2: The Secret Life of the Super Clones
by Forest of Grass-type
Summary: Amber was killed in a plot to create the best Pokemon. Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo and Amber survived the cloning experiment but were freed from being Team Rocket slaves by brothers Shane and Charlie. Now the six friends must rescue Mewtwo from the same fate they escaped from by collecting seven Gym badges and entering the Viridian Gym and fight to save the world.
1. Amber2 Saga: Amber's Life as Normal Girl

**2:The Secret Life of the Super Clones**

**Chapter 1:Amber's Life as a Normal Girl**

Amber Fuji could remember her parents from when she was born.

Her Dad's warm, smile with a dark background and linoleum tiles she later reasoned to be the inside of the hospital she was born in. Then she could feel gentle arms around her baby body from whom she then reasoned to be her Mom. In that very foggy, dim memory Amber could feel the presence of other people surrounding her, making her feel warm.

Another, more vivid memory, was two years later. When she was two she had blue hair that was already long for a girl her age. Her Mom and Dad held a hand in one of their own so that her little feet were two or three inches above the sand. She could remember giggling as her parents showed her, very early in the morning when the day was just beginning, the shore behind their house. Their house was on Cinnabar Island, a big mansion right beside the sandy coast.

Amber had turned her blue eyes over the seashore to discover the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on.

Her small mouth widened in awe as she watched the blue sea wash against the sand over and over again. Amber watched as ocean was no still body of water like the bathtub that her mother dipped her in every once in a while to supposedly clean her off from germs that were supposedly very tiny. It was a constant movement, a constant flow of blue energy that ran towards her until it receded against the sand's shore.

_How pretty! _Amber thought about the ocean.

"Mommy!" Amber said. "Where does all that blue water come from?"

"Ow it's always been there sweety," her mother said. "Always."

"Actually all water has been measured to come from the current near the Islands of Ice, Fire, and Lighnting," Amber's Dad said. "It is where the Guardian of the Sea, Lugia, lives."

"From islands?" Amber asked almost laughing.

_Land can't make water! _Amber thought. _Land will always be land, island or not! Silly Daddy! But then, Lugia must make the water! Oh, she wanted to meet this mysterious man named Lugia! He seems so nice to make this water for her!_

"Daddy," she said. "Where does the water end? How deep does it go?"

_I wonder if the ocean is more than three feet deep. _Amber said. _I hope not the dreaded _five feet _which her parents would not let her swim in._

"Oh, thousands of feet deep Amber!" her Dad said.

_Oh my gosh! _Amber thought. _That can't be true! That's more than ten! Nothing is ever that high!_

"As for how far it goes Amber," her Dad said. "It's farther than ten thousand miles long!"

_Impossible! _Amber thought.

These number were so high that Amber couldn't comprehend it. To think it was that big. It intimidated Amber to the very core of her soul that something was that big. That something was that powerful.

"Daddy that scares me!" Amber said and squeezed her parents hands as tightly as possible.

"It's okay Amber," her Dad said kindly. "Mommy and Daddy won't let the ocean, or anything, hurt you."

She gave the ocean another look, to see it's beauty of how gorgeously sunlight sprinkled down from above to shine upon it's surface.

"Well," she said. "It's still beautiful."

Amber's next most vivid memory was when she was four. She was in the big mansion as familiar to her as the back of her hand. It's walls and floors were decorated with lush red velvet. The tiles were ordained with pearl pink color that was so shiny you could see yourself as if it were a mirror. There were marble statues of a cat-like creature only a foot tall with a long, slim tail that her Dad referred to as 'Mew', a creature her Dad seemed to take special interest in.

Her mother was showing Amber an entire wardrobe of clothes for her to try on. They were full of skirts, dresses, tunics, and ribbons for Amber to try on. Amber was dazzled by this array of gorgeous clothing.

"Now Amber," her mother said. "You can try on any of these clothes you would like."

Amber spent maybe an hour putting on outfit after outfit, silently looking at how many combinations of color and design there was. She liked best the red dress with blue intertwined threads that her mother said formed calligraphy character for joy. Amber liked it with a black choker and a red ribbon in her hair. Amber had tried to pick a blue dress, her favorite color, but she just seemed to like this better.

"Oh, you look just wonderful Amber!" her mother said.

"Thank you Mommy!" Amber said. "I like it too! This is my favorite outfit!"

Then, when she was five, she could remember her Dad taking her out to the middle of Cinnabar Island. It was a field that was covered with the occasional dark green shrub. As she was walking through the field, what she saw was brilliant.

There were brown creatures with wings and short talons about a foot tall. They walked on the ground, picking at seeds. Their pale undersides reminded Amber of the color of her bathroom sink. Their beady eyes took notice of Amber and her Dad. Amber thought these things were a little paranoid by the way they kept glancing back at them.

There were red creatures with a dark red tail of large curls. These things looked like what you would think of as a fox. It's head, like it's tail, had thick hair that were shaped like curls. Amber thought these things were especially cute.

Another creature were thin stems with a pair of green leaves to the side. At the bottom of their stem body were thin roots like tendrils of an ivy plant. Their head at the top of their stem was a yellow, bell shaped head which was hollow and apparently served a mouth. The bell shaped head had a pair black, beady eyes. This creature struck Amber as weird.

"That bird is Pidgey," her Dad said. "The red one with four legs and a curly tail is Vulpix. The plant with roots as feet is Bellsprout."

"They look adorable," Amber said. "But what exactly are they?"

"Pokemon," her Dad said. "Pokemon are creatures that are not like humans. They're imbued with the power and elements of nature of the natural world. Lugia, the one who lives where the ocean comes from, he is a Pokemon."

_Wow. _Amber thought. _I expected Lugia to be a tall, tan man in swim trunks who just swam all day on a surfboard. Guess I was wrong._

"Daddy," Amber said. "I would like to play with these…um, Pokemon. Will I heart them if I do?"

"Oh no Amber," her Dad said. "You won't hurt them. Almost all Pokemon are so strong that humans are absolutely powerless against them. That's why they can be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Amber asked. "How can that red…um, Vulpix be dangerous? It's so cute!"

"Vulpix is a Fire-type Pokemon," her Dad said. "A Fire-type Pokemon's body can heat up to extreme degrees and breath fire or set their bodies on fire."

_How could that be? _Amber thought.

Amber regarded water, the ocean in particular, as the strongest force there ever was. When a storm came, water was a cause of dark, scary clouds to form lighting. Water is what her parents warned her could hurt her if she was in a place where water was too deep. Water caused sand and dirt to wear away into nothing. Water could be too swift and her parents always warned Amber of this. Water could get clothes wet so you had to dry them for a long time. Water, the ocean specifically, was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. But also the most powerful.

But fire was warm and silent. It had the aura of comfort and coziness which provided light even in the darkest night. How could fire be dangerous?

"Yes Daddy," Amber said.

And her Dad explained to her what people did with Pokemon. They could be battlers, helpers, but what impressed Amber most was that they could be friends. Her Dad also explained to Amber how humans captured Pokemon in little balls called Pokeballs.

"Do they ever get lonely in those little balls?" she asked.

"No," her Dad said. "Because their human friends are always with them with care and love. It just comes to show that all life is wonderful."

_Life is wonderful. _Amber thought.

Amber started her first day of school when she was five. She had dressed wearing the school's uniforms that her parents made her wear. It was a dull grayish black.

_Personally I think this shirt needs more decoration. _Amber thought.

She walked into the Kindergarten room to see boys and girls dressed just like her. Some were chatting, laughing, and squealing over what their friends were saying. Amber expected everyone to be crying.

This accursed thing called school had forced her away from her parents and home so that everyday some strange adult could lecture them. Whoever made school must have made school just to punish Amber for a crime she never committed. Why couldn't she just stay home, watching the movement of the ocean, playing with her Mommy and Daddy, exploring the field to look for a new Pokemon, or trying on new outfits? (Nothing had come close to beating the gorgeousness of her original, favorite outfit.)

Amber was walking toward the gigantic dollhouse in the Kindergarten room where she planned to hide away from the teacher the entire time she was here.

But in her haste she bumped into a reddish-brown headed girl and they both fell back. They both stared at each other for a second as they looked at each other's accidental bruisers.

"Ouch!" the brown headed girl said. "That hurt!"

"I'm sorry," Amber said while rubbing her head.

As they both apologized they started talking and Amber found out that this girl's name was Melody. Her family was from Shamouti Island, somewhere in the Orange Islands. It wasn't far from Cinnabar. Melody and Amber talked about the ocean, the islands they lived on, the different Pokemon they saw, and their homes for a straight twenty minutes until it was time for the teacher to speak.

The teacher read to them a story about this girl named Cinderella and her fairy godmother. When she had finished reading it the teacher made them pair up to go over a passage in the story and read it themselves. Amber chose Melody as her partner and they laughed as they joked about the picture of Cinderella having the weirdest and ugliest hairstyle that could have been possibly imagined.

Amber remembered the next year she and Melody had been walking out into a forest in the middle of an island that Amber's family had brought her to. Melody's parents let her spend the day with Amber's family on the trip and they had permission to go exploring.

The locals of the small island simply called it the Berry Forest because it was a wild span of trees that grew all kinds of fruit. As Melody started to get a little bit scared at the darkness of the forest because of the canopy and all the Bug-type Pokemon crawling up the trees, Amber couldn't help but feel a sense of joy.

"Look at all the colors of the fruit Melody!" Amber said. "It's as if the trees are growing rainbows!"

"Yeah…" Melody said as she hyperventilated. "Um…Amber…don't Bug-type Pokemon only eat grass and plants and stuff like that and not, um…other living things?"

"I think most do," Amber said. "But my Dad told me about Beedrill that, although they're creatures that eat pollen, they are extremely territorial and occasionally attack intruders. Some Bug-type Pokemon like Pinsir and Venonat eat other Pokemon. Why do you ask?"

Suddenly Melody grabbed Amber from behind. This gave Amber a surprise.

"Amber let's go back!" Melody cried. "I'm scared of these creepy bugs!"

_That's so silly! _Amber thought. _Bug-types aren't scary! _

Amber walked over to a tree trunk and grabbed a Caterpie. It's green worm like body was topped with a red horn that was shaped like a Y. Amber pulled Caterpie from it's suction cup like grip on the tree. She showed it to Melody while Bug-type Pokemon remained perfectly placid in her hands, it's beady little eyes staring at Melody with it's head slightly tilted to the side.

"See Melody," Amber said. "It's not dangerous. All life is wonderful, people or Pokemon. Besides, this little guy is just the cutest thing ever."

"Cater…pie," it said.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Melody screamed.

Melody ran forward as fast as she could and swept right past Amber. Amber turned towards her, placed the calm Caterpie on the ground, and ran after her.

"Melody stop!" Amber said. "It's not dangerous at all!"

"It's so creepy!" she yelled back. "Get it away from me!"

Melody had disappeared into the dark woods. Amber ran in between the thick tree trunks as she ran in Melody's direction. When Amber felt tired she stopped to catch her breath beside a pond with her hands on her knees.

_What a baby!_ _She gets a face-to-face look at a Caterpie and she starts screaming her head off! _

Amber looked around the thick forest of bright colored fruit. The pond was actually one of the few spots where direct sunlight shined through. Amber happily greeted the sunlight.

"Hey, girl," a voice said.

Amber turned to her side to see a boy with smooth brown hair that draped across his head in a circle. He had brown eyes and wore a blue jeans with a red shirt and tennis shoes. He had a sort of serious expression on his face. The boy looked like he was of the same age as Amber.

"Who are you?" Amber asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Name's Charlie," he said. "Look, have you seen a kid with spiky yellow hair, green eyes? He's my brother. He needs a haircut pretty bad, he's wearing shorts, barefoot and he quite possibly is in a-"

Suddenly a boy jumped from above, seemingly out of nowhere, right in between Amber and Charlie. The boy met the description of Charlie's brother perfectly.

He wore black shorts and a light green T-shirt. Amber couldn't help notice the boy's six inch long hair that grew out to the side and formed four very pronounced spikes.

_My gosh that boy needs a haircut. _Amber thought.

"Quite possibly in a tree," Charlie said annoyed. "Where were you when you left me Shane?"

"I don't know," Shane said. "I was just busy climbing trees."

_Those boys look nothing alike. _Amber couldn't help but think.

Shane looked only slightly older than Charlie.The boy Charlie's expression seemed to range from annoyed to serious with a stocky build. Shane on the other hand looked quite slender and had a very serene look on his face.

Charlie looked like he was getting irate. He pulled a picture out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was fruit that looked pinkish pale color and shaped sort of like an hourglass.

"Have you seen this fruit out here?" Charlie said. "It's called a persim fruit."

"We're supposed to be looking for it," Shane said.

"I think she knows that already, Mankey-boy," Charlie said like he was irritated. "And no thanks to you."

"Well I was looking for it on my own in my own way!" Shane said. "I was traveling by tree as you traveled by foot! Now which way do you think is faster?"

"Have you or have you not girly?" Charlie asked.

"I think I saw a fruit like that over there," Amber said and pointed to where she had started running.

The boy called Shane, who desperately needed his hair clipped, looked at Amber and Amber immediately knew what flickered in the boy's eyes. The way he seemed to hesitate and draw back slightly from Amber's presence as soon as he looked at her innocently.

_That boy likes me. _Amber couldn't help think.

Suddenly, out from beneath the pond, rose something pink. Amber recognized the Pokemon no more than one foot tall, slim body, adorable face and eyes, and long, thin tail.

"That's a Mew!" Amber said.

Charlie and Shane stared at it as it levitated in the air almost like magic. None of them had ever seen a Pokemon do this before.

_Hello humans. _The quiet, female voice seemed to resonate not in their ears but minds.

Then it zipped off into the air like a rocket. It disappeared into the great blue sky.

"Wow," Charlie said.

"It looked really cute," Shane said.

"That's my Dad's favorite Pokemon," Amber said. "He studies Pokemon biology and he says it's the rarest Pokemon in Kanto. So rare some believe it to be a myth. I can't wait to tell daddy!"

"Alright is this where the persim fruit are?" a deep voice said.

"Um, no but-" Melody's voice cried.

Amber and Melody looked at each other for a second after Melody appeared out of the grove. Then Melody ran towards Amber and gave her a big hug.

"I'm so sorry I ran away!" Melody said.

Amber only half heard it, still stunned by two facts: that she just saw a Pokemon that her Dad said was impossible to spot and the fact that a boy had a crush on her. Both blew her mind.

"Well, did you find any of the fruit?" the deep, masculine voice said.

Amber turned to see the man was very tall and very strong looking with thick muscle. He wore a camo green shirt, black pants, and an Army jacket that was decorated with medals. His eyes were black with short, spiky blond hair.

"This girl said that there's persim fruit that way, Matis," Charlie said and pointed the way Amber showed him.

"Let's go boys!" his voice boomed. "Lt. Surge waits for nothing!"

The man ran in the direction Charlie pointed to. Charlie sighed and followed after them. The boy named Shane looked at me intently before leaving.

"What is your name?" Shane asked.

"Amber Fuji," Amber replied happily.

"Do you live here?" Shane asked.

"No," she said, thinking that she would make another friend. "I live on Cinnabar Island, on the shore, not far from the dock."

Shane smiled.

_I hoped he gets the hint that he can be my friend. _Amber thought.

The boy turned to jump and grab a low limb and climb up a tree. He disappeared into the canopy.

Melody turned to stare at Amber.

"I think that weird boy liked you," Melody said. "Do you think that hair could poke someone's eye out?"

"If he doesn't get it cut soon," Amber replied.

They both laughed.

Amber and Melody had made their way out of the Berry Forest, Amber holding Melody's hand so she wouldn't be so scared of the bugs. They came out to a small field and Amber and Melody walked out of that to the city. They walked to the hotel that Amber's parents rented.

When the girls walked into the lobby, Amber was shocked to find her Dad talking to the buff man named Matis they had just met. They were chatting on the couch and laughing. Shane and Charlie sat right beside Matis with an uninterested expression.

Amber ran up to her father.

"Daddy!" Amber said. "I saw a Mew! A real live Mew!"

Her father's interest turned from what Matis was saying and turned to Amber.

"Are you joking?" her Daddy said.

"No!" Amber replied excitedly. "It looked exactly like the statues you have at home, except pink!"

"Where did you see it?" her father asked.

"In the Berry Forest! It flew into the air, out of a pond!"

Amber's father looked deeply perplexed, with his fingers at his chin and his eyes staring directly downward.

"That's…that's impossible…" her father said.

"Hey, John, don't tell me your still researching that Mew Pokemon," Matis said. "I heard it was just a mirage."

"I thought it was too Matis," Amber's Dad said. "Until I found an overwhelming amount of evidence that it was in fact very real."

"Daddy who is that man?" Amber asked.

The man named Matis turned his gaze towards Amber and after looking for a moment or two subsequently chuckled.

"Oh," her Dad said. "This is Matis Surge. He is an esteemed, highly decorated war hero. He's known for his skill with training, raising, and battling with Electric-type Pokemon. He is the Vermillion City Gym leader."

"Oh come on now," Matis said in his loud, booming voice. "You act like I'm just another fan of my work. Your father and I go _way _back. We were friends before and after I joined the Army."

"To tell you the truth Amber I never thought I'd see Matis again after he became Gym leader of Vermillion," her Dad said. "In case you want to visit again I live not far from the dock on Cinnabar Island. It's a big mansion on the coast. Cinnabar is where I conduct research on Pokemon biology."

"Is that so?" Matis asked. "Well I could go to Cinnabar every once in a while to pick up some things I need. I have these two young lads, Shane and Charlie, who work for me for some money that have lately been helping me."

_So Matis is not their Dad. _Amber thought.

"Amber I'll look into this Mew thing later," her father said. "Why don't you and Melody go on to the pool, okay?"

"Okay Daddy!" Amber said.

"Matis," Charlie said. "If we're not doing anything for you now-"

"You two could head to the pool," Matis replied.

Shane and Charlie followed Amber and Melody to where they were headed. But as Amber looked back she saw Matis stare at them and she could have sworn it was her he was looking at.

"Matis?" Amber heard her Dad say. "What are you looking at?"

"What?" he replied. "Sorry. Staring off into space."

Amber and Melody went into the bathroom to change into their bathing suits for the pool. They came out to find Shane and Charlie as they were waiting patiently outside the door. Shane had a big smile and Charlie was looking kind of bored.

"The pool is this way," Melody said and walked down the hall to the elevator. "I hope it's a saltwater pool. I just love the feeling of the ocean's water."

"So why are you with Matis?" Amber asked. "Where are your parents?"

Shane's smile disappeared almost instantly and Charlie's expression went from bored to grim.

Melody put her hand to her mouth as she realized the painful but obvious answer.

"Our parents are gone," Charlie said. "See, we lived in the slums and our parents were killed by a gang member's Pokemon."

"We saw it happen," Shane said as a tear rolled down his eye. Amber could tell Shane was restraining himself from crying more.

"That's just aweful!" Amber said.

_Who would do that? _Amber thought. _The only people cruel enough to was Team Rocket and they were a bunch of bullies and thieves! _

"I'm so sorry," Melody said.

"Yeah," Charlie said. "Shane and I decided we needed to get out of that place and head somewhere else. We found Matis who offered to give us a lot of money if we would help him a little bit."

"But what we really wanted to be were Pokemon trainers," Shane said with a romantic, hopeful tone. "That's our dream, to be Pokemon masters. And with all the money we'd make we would no longer be homeless."

"But we don't own even one Pokemon," Charlie said.

They arrived to the pool via the elevator. Charlie and Shane took off their shirts and jumped in with their shorts. After them Melody and Amber jumped in.

It was a saltwater pool like Amber heard Melody wish for. Melody looked happy to find that out. Amber laughed in front of Shane when she saw how his hair spikes dropped down like loose tentacles, stuck to his cheeks by the water.

Amber, Shane, Charlie, and Melody played tag while they swam around in the water. They all laughed and giggled as one of them was tagged

and splashed water on each other playfully. Amber and Melody, having the most experience swimming, were the hardest to catch and the best taggers. Charlie and Melody argued the most about if getting splashed counted as being tagged. Once, Amber caught Shane trying to hold her hand. Shane blushed and Amber smiled warmly.

Amber, like the rest of her friends, was caught up in the excitement of their game but it was briefly interrupted when she saw Matis looking at her from a distance.

Other memories Amber had were of Matis Surge stopping by every once in a while, and bring Shane and Charlie with him, to get a close look at the research her father did and have a good with conversation.

Amber would go out to play with the two boys in the field. Shane would usually climb up trees and then drop of the air out of nowhere. The boys and Amber would go exploring the volcanic mountain slopes on Cinnabar Island. They would watch Pokemon intently as the Pokemon roamed around in it's own territory. Shane would remark on how elegant the Bellsprout looked and in great harmony with it's natural environment. Once they saw a herd of Ponyta, what you would think looked like a white horse, with a mane and tail of fire, Charlie said he would give his left lung to capture that Pokemon.

Amber enjoyed the boy's company and they regarded her as a best friend.

And then it happened. The most painful memory of all. It was the day after Shane had said goodbye with an every so slight kiss on her cheek. Her memory of that day had been overshadowed by the next day. The most dreadful day of her life.

Amber had her favorite outfit on, the red dress, with the black choker and red ribbon. She was laughing at the joke her father had made about a Magikarp before he left for work at the lab, briefly before her mother left for work at selling real estate.

"The reason Gyarados are so angry is because everyone beat it up as a Magikarp and when it evolved _it_ was the head-honcho of the sea!" her Dad said.

Amber giggled at the thought of a poor abused wimpy Magikarp evolving one day to, at the peril of it's bulliers, a hulking sea monster, when she saw the door open.

_Tha__t's weird. _Amber thought. _I don't ever remember Mom or Dad saying they'd be back so soon._

Amber ran down the stairs to find not her parents closing the back door of the mansion but Lt. Matis Surge.

_Weird. _Amber thought. _He doesn't usually have a creepy smile like that. And he usually doesn't have rubber gloves. And isn't it strange he used the back door and not the front?_

"Hello Lt. Surge," Amber said sweetly.

He said nothing but just kept walking towards Amber.

"My parents aren't home, they're at work instead," she said.

Matis Surge raised his arms, ripped with muscle. His vision was like that of a hawk on Amber.

"Whatcha doin'?" Amber asked curiously.

He took Amber's entire body in one hand.

"What…what is this?" Amber asked panicking.

"Only the strong survive," Lt. Surge said. "I have orders from Giovanni myself to take out a weakling like you."

"Please let me go," Amber pleaded as Surge lifted her into the air.

_Giovanni. _Amber thought. _The infamous Team Rocket leader. What_-Surge tightened his grip making her gag-_what did that have to do with me?_

"A psychic human and the four strongest Pokemon in the world will be ours!" Surge said. "Did you really think it was an accident we met in the forest? That sour kid Charlie and that dopey Shane knew nothing about this but it was all apart of our ingenious plan! They'll join Team Rocket soon enough however! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

His laugh boomed through the mansion.

"This…this is…wrong," Amber said, as she felt the power of Surge's muscle. "I know…it is. Please…stop!"

Amber could feel hot tears running down her cheeks.

_This is the end? _Amber thought. _No it can't be! Daddy you said nothing would ever hurt me! Daddy! Shane! Anybody!_

"Don't worry my dear," Surge said as her breath began to be choked off. "You'll live again. After all, life is wonderful."

That was the last thing Amber heard.

Surge brought out a walky talky after putting the girl's body down.

"Phase One is complete," he said.

"Excellent," Giovanni replied. "Now, be ready to coax Fuji into working on the Project."


	2. Fuji's Success

**Chapter 2: Fuji's Success**

When John Fuji picked up his wife, Mildred, and drove home they had a nasty surprise.

"Amber!" they both cried.

Mr. Fuji checked for a pulse. There was none.

Mildred put her face in her hands and sobbed. John had no idea what to do except sit on his knees and stare at his daughter's body. No tears, his mind was to blown away to comprehend any emotion.

Somehow they managed to pull together a funeral for Amber. The forensic specialists undoubtedly Amber was strangled to death by a lone murderer. By the way it looked it seemed like a male human. There were no DNA samples left because of the rubber gloves Lt. Surge wore.

Phase Two was complete late at night, three days after the Fujis saw Amber was dead. As Mildred was in therapy John sat on the couch talking to his old friend Matis.

"What will I do?" John said. "Ever since I saw Amber's dead body I've had absolutely no emotions for the past days. How will I live? There's nothing that anyone can do."

Amber's killer put on a wonderful mournful façade as he talked to Fuji.

"I'm terribly sorry John," Surge said. "I don't know what to do either. But, after all, you're the scientist. You know about how to recreate life maybe better than anyone I've seen."

John looked back up at Surge. He looked twenty years older from stress he'd been enduring the past week.

"Are you saying what I think your saying?" John asked.

"I think I am," said Surge. "You can play with nature better than any of us. I mean, what can you actually do about biologically?"

John withdrew himself to deep thought.

This was exactly Surge's plan, what Giovanni was paying him the big bucks and expensive training for his Electric-type Pokemon for. To get his old friend to thinking about what _could _be. To get him to start thinking he could play with nature to quite an extent.

"Yes Matis," John said. "I _can_ do quite a bit. You see we have these things that absorb the consciousness of living creatures at the lab I work at. I can absorb all of Amber's life before her murder and then make a new body."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Matis said.

"The memory will be easy," Fuji said. "All I'll need is Amber's body and bring it there at night. Then I collect a DNA sample, a blood sample would be best and I'll get her a new body."

"You mean _make _a new body," Matis said.

"Your right Matis," John replied. "I'll make Amber a new body! I need materials! I need research on cloning! I need a lot of stuff!"

John got up and then turned back to Lt. Surge.

"Matis, if my wife comes home before I do just tell her I've found a cure to our problems!"

"Wonderful," Matis said and John ran out the door, turned on the car, headed straight for the funeral home.

"Oh yes," Lt. Surge said. "This is going to be very wonderful."

John did as he said.

He snuck into the funeral, stole Amber's body, and put it in the back of the car. Fuji then stopped in the back of the lab he worked in. He looked to see no one was around, grabbed his once living daughter, and put her in a glass tube. The wires with suction cups on them placed themselves on Amber's head and soon in a separate glass dome a red vortex of light appeared.

"It worked!" Fuji cried. "It worked!"

Fuji had done this so many times on living Pokemon but never on a deceased human. Fuji was giddy with excitement.

"Soon Amber, soon you will be alive once again," he said.


	3. Alone In the Dark

**Chapter 3: Alone in the Dark**

Amber awoke!

_That was horrible! _Amber thought. _Just absolutely horrible! Why would anyone do that? Surge was being evil!_

Amber then realized something.

She was neither floating nor sitting. Nothing was here. Empty space devoid of any solid object, light, or sound. Everything in front of her was just darkness. Darkness as in darkness beyond any night. The worst part was that she was alone.

"Hello?" Amber cried. "Hello? Anybody?"

Soon Amber. She heard a fain whisper. Soon you will be alive again.

"What?" Amber said. "What was that? Who was that?"

No answer.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Amber said. "Daddy please help me! Mommy!"

Still no answer.

Panic took over Amber. No one was with her in the dark. No one. Amber could feel tears crawl across her cheek. She wanted someone there for her. She wanted light. She wanted help. She wanted to be in the world again.

She wanted her Daddy to hug her. She wanted her Mommy to hold her. She wanted Melody to make fun of Cinderella's hairstyle. She wanted Charlie to be beside her as they played tag. She wanted Charlie to tell her about how he planned to get eight gym badges. She wanted Shane to kiss her cheek again while holding her hand. She wanted Shane to tell her all about his obsession with Grass-type Pokemon and how he planned to get one, one day.

"Anything for me to know I'm not alone!" Amber cried.

But there was no answer. And there would be no answer for a long time.


	4. Fuji's Deal

**Chapter 4: Fuji's Deal**

"By George I think I've got it!" John Fuji said.

Fuji was at his computer at his desk, looking at the DNA formula of a computerized simulation of a clone. He was surrounded by six foot tall stacks of papers around his desk in the lowest floor of his mansion. It had gone on like this for two months, sitting at his computer, spending up to eight hours at his computer and usually two to three hours looking at the notes that had accumulated. It had gone on until this precise point where Fuji had all the information he needed to cloning his daughter Amber. With all the knowledge he had and all the successful simulations on the computer of effectively cloning bits and fragments of DNA to where he had perfected the art of cloning.

Dr. Fuji ran upstairs to greet his wife, who was laying on the couch with a blank stare.

"Mildred I finally did it!" he said. "I've found a way to bring back Amber!"

Ms. Fuji didn't respond.

Dr. Fuji ran to the phone they had and called every scientific institution who's number he had. He called them, telling them he was able to use the cloning process effectively and needed lab equipment, expensive technology, and a team of scientists to aid him. He had the same reply: We will get to you on that later and you will need money to pay for it.

Dr. Fuji spent the next week trying to find people who would sponsor his project. However, every meeting, every phone call, every institution would not invest maybe as much as five billion dollars in such a project. It was too risky for the companies.

Fuji was home one day, sitting on the couch by Mildred, looking at a picture of Amber. Their daughter was in a white sundress with a matching broad rimmed hat, her parents right beside her. When Fuji thought he was about to cry the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Fuji said.

The doctor ran to the front door downstairs and swung it ajar to see three men on his doormat. Two were in black suits with silver briefcases but the man in front of them wore a brown suit with slick, black hair and an authoritative appearance. He had a smirk on his face.

"Hello Doctor," he said shaking Fuji's hand and one of the other men closed the door. "My name is Giovanni."

Dr. Fuji nearly shuddered.

"The leader of Team Rocket?" Fuji asked.

"In the flesh," Giovanni said.

"What do you want?" Fuji asked.

Giovanni flicked his finger.

The other two men set his briefcase on a coffee table and opened the briefcase. They were both full of 1000 dollar bills stacked to as much as the suitcase could hold! Fuji stumbled back a step at seeing so much money!

"There is about two billion dollars in each suitcase," Giovanni said. "If you don't want the money we'll burn it."

The point was made clear: Two billion dollars was nothing to this man! If he was that wealthy…

"What do you want with my cloning project?!" Fuji demanded.

"Simple," Giovanni said. "There is no one on earth who knows the cloning process better than you. No one on earth Fuji. Now, knowing from all the corporate deals you were willing to make for your Amber…"

Giovanni let that message sink into Dr. Fuji. That he knew why he was doing this. All to bring his daughter back to life.

"We would be happy to give you all the materials you need for your cloning experiment," Giovanni said. "All the money, scientists and technology you need in exchange for something you do for us."

"And what would that be?" Fuji asked.

Giovanni's smirk widened into a broad smile.

"For you to genetically engineer us the four strongest Pokemon the world has ever known," Giovanni replied. "I'm sure you're aware of the procedure of gene splicing and cloning? We stumbled upon you and thought with all your expertise and knowledge you could do it. So why not?"

Fuji took that in. He didn't like the thought of helping Team Rocket but what other choice did he have?

"I will do it," Fuji said. "But only if you give me any and all materials to genetically engineer Amber."

"That is absolutely no problem to us," Giovanni said.

They shook their hands.

Late that night, with orders given to them directly from Giovanni, Team Rocket agents Butch and Cassidy snuck into the laboratory of Professor Oak. They opened the window, climbed down via rope, and stepped into the lab. They checked to make sure the needles at their belts were okay.

Butch and Cassidy sneaked through the lab to find the three Pokeballs they had been sent to find. Butch and Cassidy pressed down on the white button in the middle of each Pokeball. The Pokeballs opened to unleash a cute orange lizard, between one and two feet tall, with bright, blue eyes, and a red and yellow flame at the end of it's tale. Another one was a turtle about the same height with a thick brown shell and small blue limbs with a very round head. The last was a reptilian quadruped, it's body teal, an ovular head with red eyes and a large green flower bulb on it's back with a very small opening at the very top.

Butch and Cassidy took the needles and, being as the Pokemon were little more than babies so their skin was not very tough, drove the sharp needles into their bodies. They had Charmander and Squirtle's red blood with Bulbasaur's yellow-green blood in the vial-like needles.

Then they put the Pokemon back in their Pokeballs and snuck out of the lab without being noticed.

The blood of the Pokemon was carefully labeled, shipped discretely to the Fuji residence on Cinnabar Island, and taken to the laboratory downstairs. The bottom floor now had monitors with life support systems, bio-sign reading computers, and much more. Fuji was now accompanied by thirty or so Rocket Scientists who were eager to start the experiment. One of the scientists was the Cinnabar Gym leader, Blaine, who was interested in the science of Pokemon genetics.

Dr. Fuji had been working on Amber's DNA already. (The scientists kept calling her "Ambertwo" but Fuji hardly ever called her that.) The blood sample Fuji had obtained from Amber's funeral was now growing into an Amber that was almost five years old already. Fuji had been informed that after she reached the age she died her growth rate would be normal and Amber would have to reach and age in her teens for her to survive the outside world. Fuji was fine with that.

However, Fuji was unaware that the other scientists had slightly tampered with Amber's DNA and given her psychic powers with what information they could gather from Fuji's research. At Fuji's request there was another chamber, right below the underground room the lab was in. In the cylinder vat of orange liquid, filled with nutrients and oxygen, floated five year old Amber. Her body was connected to the dome of red energy that housed Amber conscious, before she was killed, so that when her body was taken out of the vat her mind be drained of the glass dome and would automatically rush into the brain of Ambertwo's body.

The blood samples of the Pokemon were placed in three separate glass chambers. When the were placed their the entire DNA sequences of Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur were displayed on the monitors. Using what was displayed on the screens as a map the scientists used to tamper with the DNA.

With what genes controlled the thickness of the cell walls of Bulbasaur's flower, through Dr. Fuji's precise guidance and commands, the scientists added onto that part of the DNA more genes that allowed the cell walls to grow much thicker. The muscle fibers in Bulbasaur's body were made stronger. The scientists looked to what genes controlled the Grass-type move arsenal stored in Bulbasaur's flower and Fuji instructed them to grow them into stronger and more developed plants. Bulbasaur's vine whip was altered to be more lithe and strong and the vines were made able to gather more sunlight to Bulbasaur's body. The leaves inside Bulbasaur's bulb were altered to be sharper, more rigid, and energy to flow through them easier. Bulbasaur's petals were altered to have a specialized type of chlorophyll to absorb sunlight differently than the original. The DNA that controlled his brain functions and nervous system were altered to have psychic powers, but not in such a way as to make it a Psychic-type, in a way similar to that of Amber.

The fuel in Charmander's body which kept it's tail going had been tampered with to produce a more intense, hotter burning flame. Charmander's DNA was altered to make the super clone sturdier built and faster. The fire he produced Charmandertwo would able to control able to control and manipulate. Charmander's flow of heat cycling in his body was made to be hotter and faster flowing. The skin of Charmander's body were made thicker but porous to Charmander's inner heat so extreme heat would rise to anywhere on the surface of it's body. Charmander's teeth and claws were made sharper. Charmander's brain was altered so it was given psychic powers by altering it's brain and nervous system.

The genes that controlled the thickness of Squirtle's shell was added onto to be made much stronger. The water that was carried inside Squirtle's shell was no longer made stagnant but constantly flowing not only within the confines of the shell but inside the shell itself. With this they altered Squirtle's shell, back, and throat to allow water to be blasted with more extreme force from her mouth. Squirtle was given the ability to manipulate the water produced from her body. This ability made it so that if any piece of the shell broke off Squirtle could still manipulate the flowing water in it. Squirtle's body structure was made more agile. Squirtle was given psychic powers.

When these DNA samples of each cloned Pokemon were finished being altered they were put into a bowl of highly specialized growth liquid that allowed the DNA sequences to start growing cells. When the three clumps of cells had grown enough until the were embryos they were taken with gloved hands to the vats. At the bottom of the glass cylinders was a base of gray material that was solid enough to hold water but when pushed it was permeable to solid objects. The scientists pushed the embryos through the permeable base of the cylinder vat until they were inside. The embryos were inside they flowed upward until they were stopped by wires with suction cups on them.

These wires, when connected to the Pokemon embryos, gave bio-readings displayed on the monitor.

The scientists cheered and howled for their grand accomplishment. They had genetically engineered Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo. Great success!

Now the real trouble began. They had to maintain the laboratory and keep up the right nutrients for every clone, depending upon their constantly shifting bio-signs. That included Amber.

There was already made a small building, separate of the Fuji mansion, with four cylinder vats just like the ones the clones were in already. But instead of orange, nutrient filled liquid there was blue liquid very similar to that of an Awakening. Like that of an awakening the clones when they were developed enough(there was a pump in the building the sucked Amber straight out of her vat right into the other connected via underground tube line) that would awaken the clones.

Giovanni and Fuji were discussing business one late night in the living room of the Fuji mansion.

"Another super clone?" Fuji asked. "Really?"

"Yes," Giovanni replied leaned back in his chair with his feet on the coffee table. "And this time I want the clone of a legendary Pokemon. I want a team of the four best Pokemon to be engineered."

"And which legendary did you have in mind sir?" Fuji asked.

"That's what I came to you for," Giovanni asked. "Which legendary would be best? Which one of the three birds of Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno should we use? They are the easiest to get to."

Fuji looked down at the floor. His favorite Pokemon's name was screaming in all corners of his mind until he said it.

"Mew," Fuji said. "The legendary bird Pokemon near Shamouti Island are known to be violent when provoked as Mew is believed to be playful, usually."

"Mew?" Giovanni said. "I thought Mew was supposed to be a sort of myth."

"Before Amber died I did research on the Pokemon Mew," Fuji said. "After enough evidence, and the fact my little daughter saw one, I have reason to believe otherwise."

"Really now?" Giovanni said seeming quite interested. "Amber saw one?"

"Yes," Fuji replied. "On Kin Island in the Berry Forest. The reason I and my colleagues believe Mew is so rarely seen is because it's believed psychic abilities of invisibilities, teleportation, and levitation allow them to go virtually unseen."

Giovanni took extreme interest in that. He couldn't help but feel extreme pleasure that such a strong Pokemon could be found and cloned.

"Kin Island is actually where ruins of an ancient civilization exist," Giovanni said. "There many of these ruins that contain pictures of a feline type Pokemon. Most believe it is to be that of Mew. I'll send you with a search party of scientists to Kin Island to make a super clone of it's DNA."

"But sir," Fuji said. "It's next to impossible to just _see _a Mew! How do you expect to find one and catch it!"

"You don't need to catch a Mew, Dr.," Giovanni said. "All you need to do is find the DNA sample of one. If one Mew lives there don't you think there are others that live there or once did? All you need is a DNA sample, whether it be bone, blood, or skin! It would be easier to get something like that lying around then walking up to a vicious legendary and plucking one of it's feathers now wouldn't it!"

Fuji took this into consideration.

"You know my colleges and I have found what we thought might be the hair of a Mew," Fuji said. "The hair we have no longer but we did save the computer graphic of DNA we found from it. It's on the computer at the lab I used to work at. I'll go, see if I can get a hair similar to that we found and see if it's DNA matches up to that of the DNA from that hair we used to have!"

"Splendid!" Giovanni said. "Then we'll do it tomorrow!"

The next day Dr. Fuji was with a team of explorers, deep in the murky jungles of Kin Island. They were surrounded by trees so thick that knives couldn't cut through them. Vines had overgrown the once cleared trail that lead to the ruins Fuji and his team were walking to. Mankey glided through the canopy above as they trekked through the jungle.

The team stopped by to examine the ruins that depicted what Dr. Fuji was sure of was Mew. As he talked to his team about the Pokemon depicted Dr. Fuji was astonished to see the shadow of a Pokemon shaped just like it cast across the wall.

They all turned their heads to see that nothing was there.

This only confirmed Mew's existence. Dr. Fuji had known that Mew was a playful Pokemon that loved sneaking up on others and then vanishing from sight, according to the accounts of witnesses. It meant no harm but to take humor out of astonishing others without hurting them in anyway.

The team started excavating near a mountain slope which was their best hope for finding any fossil. The team dug up Leaf Stones and fossils of different body parts of Pokemon. They took all the fossils they found and put it in their backpacks.

They took a boat back to Cinnabar Island and went to the lab where Dr. Fuji used to work. They examined the DNA of all the fossils with that of the hair Fuji believed was of Mew. The ninth fossil matched up almost perfectly with the one his computer. It was apparently the eyelash of a Pokemon which was fossilized to a black rock they dug it up from.

They took the fossil back to the Fuji residence lab and confirmed with the others it was most likely the fossilized eyelash of a Mew. They put the DNA in a glass case like they had with that of the other super clones for storage.

The next day the skin samples of an Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam were sent to the lab. The scientists took the blood of the island Gym leader, Blaine, who kindly volunteered, as well. Under Fuji's instructions the scientists combined the DNA of Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam, and Blaine with the DNA sample of the fossilized eyelash in the glass tube. The three Psychic-type Pokemon and human DNA added to the Mew's already powerful psychic powers. They put the tampered DNA of Mew's in the growth liquid, until it had become an embryo. They shoved the embryo of the super clone through the permeable base and it flowed upward until it was caught by the suction cups at the end of the wires.

The scientists cheered and howled as they had done before in joy at their accomplishment. They had finally created the last clone: Mewtwo.

As Dr. Fuji cheered and chatted jovially with the other scientists he was pulled away privately by Blaine, a college and close friend of his.

"John, I got something to tell you thank you ain't gonna like to hear," Blaine said.

Fuji listened intently.

"What Team Rocket plans to do with Amber once she's awake is to take her and make a slave out of her," Blaine said. "They purposely withheld this from you but Ambertwo has psychic power, just like Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Charmandertwo. They plan to use her as a tool as they do the other super clones. You should make a plan to save Amber before they get her."

"I'm sorry Blaine," Dr. Fuji said. "But you must be mistaken. I've aided Giovanni in helping him create the four strongest Pokemon the world has ever known. He wouldn't do that and has no need to."

"He's the leader of Team Rocket, John," Blaine said. "Of course he would and I know he will."

"You are mistaken," Fuji replied. "I don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense."

Fuji sighed and walked away.

Giovanni whispered to himself as soon as he heard Mewtwo was in the vat.

"Phase three is underway," Giovanni said.


	5. Friends

**Chapter 5: Friends**

He was alive!

He appeared in the dark place, neither floating nor sitting. He looked down at himself, experiencing his own conscious for the first time ever. He looked around himself only to see total darkness.

_Where am I? _he thought. _Wait a minute! A better question is _who _am I! Who am I?_

He looked down at himself.

His body was light blue, with three small claws on each of his legs. On his legs he had dark, olive green bands. That was all he could see.

_Oh! _he thought. _I wish I could see more of myself!_

And he did. Suddenly he saw his entire body.

It was true he had very light blue skin,horizontal, dark olive green stripes on his legs but he also had the same color markings on the side of his eyes. His eyes were red and on his back was a flower bulb that was bright green. He thought the bright green color was the most beautiful thing he would ever see. Not only was the color beautiful but the shape was so elegant.

"Okay," he spoke. "I like _what_ I am! But _who_ am I?!"

He got an answer. It was an answer in whispers.

_Telepathy…_

_Telepathic abilities…make it audibly speak…_

_It is…_

_Bulbasaurtwo…_

_Bulbasaurtwo is…_

_Bulbasaurtwo is functioning well…_

He was automatically scared from the strange words that answered his question.

_I am Bulbasaurtwo. _He thought mysteriously. _Whatever the heck that is!_

Bulbasaurtwo(he decided that was who he was might have been scared but instead of cowering defied his fear.

"Hey!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Who am I?! What is a Bulbasaurtwo?!"

He only got more mystic answers.

_It replied…_

_It replied…_

_How did it reply…?_

_Do they ever do anything other than whisper at me? _Bulbasaurtwo thought.

"Hello!" a voice cried. "Hello is anyone there!"

"Who said that?!" Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Suddenly someone appeared right in front of him. It was a she, Bulbasaurtwo recognized. The girl was pretty with long blue hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She was obviously young because she was small.

She was about six inches away from him.

"What are you?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Me?" she replied. "I'm a human! I'm a girl! Oh, it's so good to have company! I never thought I'd ever see anyone again! You're a Bulbasaur aren't you?! Will you be my friend!?"

_Bulbasaur?_ Bulbasaurtwo thought. _Why did she say who I was without the two?_

_Friend? _He thought.

"What is a friend?" Bulbasaurtwo asked. "And what exactly is a Bulbasaur?"

"Someone who's really special to you and loves you," the female said. "I'm Amber! And Bulbasaur is what you are!"

The human put her arms around his large head. Bulbasaurtwo was completely perplexed by what she was doing. He could not find the purpose of this.

"Wait!" Amber said. "I've never known a Pokemon to talk! Pokemon can't talk! How can you talk?"

"What's a Pokemon?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Suddenly, images of these things called Pokemon popped into his head. They were creatures with strange powers that reflected the power and elements of nature, nature of world had never been to before. He even saw a Bulbasaur. It was a lot like himself but a darker green bulb, not a vibrant green like his, the body color of Bulbasaur was teal, not his light blue. Also, Bulbasaur did not have the markings he had.

"Wow," Bulbasaurtwo said. "That thing looked just like me."

"I know," Amber said.

Bulbasaurtwo merely had the desire to Amber why he said he was Bulbasaur_two _and suddenly she just knew, just in the same way she showed him what Pokemon were and how he was one.

"Wow," Amber said. "How did you do that?"

"The same way you did," Bulbasaurtwo said. "Anyway, I'm Bulbasaurtwo because I heard these whispering voices say I was."

Amber looked surprised.

"I've heard things like that too," Amber said. "You must be different from the other Bulbasaurs because you can talk and…you're a different color."

"I know," Bulbasaurtwo said.

Suddenly something appeared out of the corner of Bulbasaurtwo's eye. Amber turned towards it and he did to.

It was a turtle with a round blue, small blue arms and legs and its shell which was brown on its back, yellow on it's stomach, was very glossy. It had a tail that curled up at the end. On the back of it's shiny brown shell it had patterns of circles. It had dark, grayish blue markings at the side of its eyes and on the top of its head it had two grayish blue stripes. It had large black eyes with a red tint.

The Pokemon looked around, only to see Amber and him in the middle of the bleak darkness.

"Squirrrrrr-tle," it cried.

"A Squirtle!" Amber cried.

"Squirt?" the Pokemon called Squirtle cried.

Amber walked over to it and rubbed her hand over it's smooth head. But then Bulbasaurtwo noticed Amber's face take on a perplexed look.

"But…your not a Squirtle are you?" Amber said.

"What's a Squirtle?" the Pokemon asked. Bulbasaurtwo recognized it to be a female, just as Amber was.

"You have the same markings all over your body as Bulbasaurtwo," Amber said. "And your shell is shinier than the Squirtle I once saw."

The Pokemon seemed to be in trance like state, a blank expression in it's eyes. I realized Amber must be showing it what a Squirtle was without even knowing she was doing it, just as she did with me.

Bulbasaurtwo ran over to the both of them. He put a claw of his on the Pokemon's shell. It was so smooth and slick. Bulbasaurtwo loved the feel of the shell as his claw simply slipped over it.

"So if you have almost the same markings as Bulbasaurtwo and different coloration like him…then you must be Squirtletwo!" Amber said.

"Squirrrrr-tle!" she seemed to get excited. "Okay then! I'm Squirtletwo!"

"Okay," Bulbasaurtwo said. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Amber said. "I've been in here for a long time and I think this is no place at all but the lack of a place-"

Suddenly Squirtletwo floated upward, above Amber's head(who I just now noticed with envy was taller than me)and then floated back down on Amber. Her little blue arms and legs were wrapped firmly around Amber's head. Bulbasaurtwo was astonished.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know," Squirtletwo said. "I just wanted to be on Amber's head and now I am!"

Squirtletwo covered Amber's eyes with her arms so she couldn't see. Both of them started laughing. Bulbasaurtwo couldn't help but feel sort of weirded out by this.

"Ooookay then," Bulbasaurtwo said. "Your creepy."

"Why Bulbasaurtwo?" Squirtletwo asked.

Bulbasaurtwo was kind of surprised she used his name.

_Amber must have showed her who I was. _He thought.

"Charrrrrr!" a voice cried. Bulbasaurtwo recognized it to be male.

They all turned around to see an orange lizard Pokemon, about Squirtletwo's height, with blue eyes. Like all of them this Pokemon had markings. On his arms and legs he had grayish red stripes and on the crown of his head was the grayish red color that Bulbasaurtwo guessed stretched from his head to his back, but Bulbasaurtwo could not see from here.

"A Charmander!" Amber cried. "I mean, um…Charmandertwo, I guess?"

Bulbasaurtwo suddenly saw in his head the vision of a the face of a Pokemon just like the one of the orange Pokemon he saw in the bleak darkness.

Bulbasaurtwo walked up to the Pokemon which he presumed to be Charmandertwo.

"Who are you?" he asked to all of them.

"I'm Bulbasaurtwo, the human is Amber, and Squirtletwo is the one on her head-"

Bulbasaurtwo stopped when he saw Charmandertwo's tail.

The grayish red color did extend down Charmandertwo's back and formed stripes across his tail. At the tip however, was a flame. An intense flame that triggered Bulbasaurtwo's mind into a state of panic. The intense, red fire could potentially turn Bulbasaurtwo into ashes! Especially his flower bulb!

Bulbasaurtwo hesitated a little bit and took a few steps back.

_No. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _I can do this. I'm not going to back down from him because of fire._

Though Bulbasaurtwo was still scared he kept walking towards Charmandertwo. He kept looking at the flame on the end of the tail of Charmandertwo, not for fear but out of curiosity. The fire kept rising upward on his tail for a few inches but kept thinning until it was no more. It gave the flame a teardrop shape, similar to that of his own flower bulb on Bulbasaurtwo's back.

"So that's your name?" Charmandertwo asked. "And my name I suppose is Charmandertwo."

When Bulbasaurtwo was about three inches from Charmandertwo he wondered what his orange skin felt like.

"You must be Charmandertwo," Amber said.

Amber, with Squirtletwo still on her head, had appeared right beside Charmandertwo. Charmandertwo looked surprised.

"Wow!" Charmandertwo said and whirled around. Bulbasaurtwo made careful notice his flaming tail was closer to him than ever. "How did you do that!?"

"I don't know," Amber said smiling. "So, anyway, will you be my friend?"

"What's a friend?" Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo, and Charmandertwo asked.

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo had images of Amber and a human girl with reddish brown hair running around in a field of grass named Melody. He was also showed two boys named Charlie and Shane playing tas with Amber in a pool of water. The last image he saw was of Shane putting his mouth on Amber's cheek. Bulbasaurtwo thought it was a little bit gross.

_Love. Kindness. Joy. _These words were to describe the relationship Amber had with these people.

"Yes," Bulbasaurtwo and Charmandertwo said.

"Sure, what the heck?" Squirtletwo replied.

"Then let's play!" Amber said.


	6. Orphans

**Chapter 6: Orphans**

Charlie woke up with bumping his head on the top bunk of the bunk bed. He winced in pain and rubbed his head but that wasn't the reason he was so crabby and had a headache.

Charlie stuck his head out from beneath the bottom bunk to see that Shane was sobbing, while looking at a picture he'd stolen from the Fuji mansion, of Amber. You could barely see the green of his eyes behind the water curtain of tears that streaming of the glass casing of that picture of Amber in a white dress and wide brim hat with her parents.

He'd been like this for three weeks now, sobbing over the same picture of pretty little Amber once or twice a day, usually at night and morning.

"Shane!" Charlie screamed.

Charlie saw Shane whip his head below, throwing off the sobbing glaze of his face a little bit. His older brother hadn't been like this since their parents had died.

"I haven't slept well for two days because of your all night crying!" Charlie yelled at him. "She's dead and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Charlie was stung by what he had just said. He realized he was only seven years old and talking like an adult.

_That can't be healthy. _He said. _Of course, when your parents are cut down right in front of your eyes and then you lose one of your only but best friends, you tend to get that way._

The sheer reality of what he had just said cut through Charlie's fragile mind like a butcher-knife through cake. He found himself crying now but mentally turned off the waterworks before he had the uncontrollable sobbing like his eight year old brother had. Gosh, he hated his own emotions, reminiscing about how he and Amber used to race through the grass and up the volcanic slopes of Cinnabar Island. He missed joking about how awkward it would be to be a Fire-type Pokemon in a heavy rainstorm.

But those were just stupid memories, saturated with childish joy that were great periods of relief between working for Lt. Surge.

"You don't care about her!" Shane yelled down. "All you care about is yourself!"

"That's what you do in the world, blockhead!" Charlie yelled back. "You look out for yourself and don't let death or despair get to you! I'm a whole year younger than you, you freaking hippie! Why don't you just accept that no one is going to ride in on a magic Pidgeotte and whisk you away to some far away land where nothing bad ever happens?"

Shane was silent at Charlie's words. Charlie smiled at that, that he'd finally gotten to his older brother and shoved down his throat a sense of reality. But inside Charlie was wishing Amber was back, playing a game of hide-go-seek and pretending they were Pokemon. (He remembered usually being a Tyrannitar or a Rapidash as Shane chose a random Grass-type Pokemon or the occasional Bug-type. Amber didn't seem to have a favorite type but always seemed to like the mystic, more mysterious Pokemon like Ghastly, Dragonair, or Starmie. Charlie remembered Amber had not exactly pale skin but smooth, pure skin that the sunlight reflected off of easily. She also had innocent, blue eyes that gave off an aura of kindness.)

"Sorry Charlie," Shane said, trying not to cry much more.

"It's okay bro," he had replied. "It's not like I blame you for being sad she's gone. I don't remember making as good a friend as I did her."

Shane nodded. He climbed out of bed, wearing only underwear, unlike Charlie who wore a T-shirt to sleep as well as some clean underwear. They took off their night clothes and replaced them with fresh clothes that Matis had provided them with. Charlie got on his usual blue jeans, T-shirt, and a jacket with some nice tennis shoes. He didn't always do this but he wore a sharp looking cap to keep the sun out of his eyes.

Shane, as usual, neglected necessity and chose maximum comfortable with black gym shorts and a loose fitting shirt with no shoes. (The boy had tough calluses from long periods of barefoot walking.)

Charlie walked out of the cozy room and opened the door to the gym. Outside lay the battlefield Matis battled trainers. Shane walked out before Charlie as Charlie adjusted his cap to where he liked it just right. He could see Matis in the gym with his Riachu and Electabuzz sparing each other.

"CHU!" Riachu screamed as it whipped it's thunderbolt-shaped tail around at Electabuzz.

Electabuzz was hit square in the chest by a blow that could have swept through iron like silly puddy. He was knocked back a few feet but never for a moment lost his perfect footing.

"Keep it up Electabuzz with the defensive posture!" Matis yelled. "Now Riachu use Quick Attack while you use Thunder Punch Electabuzz!"

Riachu ran at her sparing opponent at full speed and jumped at Electabuzz. Electabuzz's fists crackled with electric energy and rammed straight into Riachu's head.

Charlie was amazed at this display of power the Pokemon produced so easily. He was most impressed with Riachu, every time being knocked down by Electabuzz's punching attacks, kept getting right back up and charging again.

"Remember Electabuzz!" Matis said. "Concentrating your electric and physical energy into intense bursts of power is key to honing your physical Electric attacks!"

As the Pokemon kept on sparring Charlie and Shane came up to Matis.

"Morning," Shane said spryly, his face still red from crying.

"What do you want us to do today?" Charlie asked.

"Well boys," Matis said, his steely eyes beamed directly on Charlie. "I think I'm gonna have to let the both of ya go."

Charlie's attitude of looking forward to work turned into a demeanor of panic. Lt. Surge had taken both of them in for about a year now when he found them as hopeless orphans. Charlie couldn't control his sense of panic that he was going to be dumped out on the streets again.

"Go where?" Charlie asked. "We have no where else to go!"

"Please Matis," Shane said. "Have we done something wrong?"

"Boys you haven't done anything wrong," Matis's voice boomed and got on one knee and stared at Charlie in the eyes. He could read Matis' seriousness about his next statement.

"See," he said. "There comes a time in every boy's life when he's got to learn how to take care of himself. Both you and your brother have done a fine job of that."

_He truly meant that. _Charlie thought. _I could see it in his eyes. We've done a good job._

"And that's when the boy becomes a man," Matis said. "And when a boy becomes a man he's got to find out a way to survive and make it big in this world of ours. I know that you and your brother have always dreamed of being Pokemon trainers. That's why I'm doing this my boy."

_That's even more true. _Charlie thought. _Shane and I, ever since we were little, dreamed of being Pokemon masters by collecting Gym badges all across Kanto. Our dream that I'll never give up on._

"I hear there's a real nice academy in Fushcia City called Violet Star High," Matis said. "It's a place where boys like you two can learn about Pokemon and become Pokemon trainers. You go their kid and you become what you've always dreamed of."

And so, it was with a heavy heart that Charlie went back into the room behind the gym to gather their belongings. Charlie and Shane each got a pack they had been given by Matis. Charlie's was a regular backpack with one strap that came across his chest. Shane's was a bag that had one long strap that came over the shoulder and held a bag by his waist.

They both stuffed some clothes into their packs as well as a water canteen. Charlie put in a few personal belongings, like a cool stone he collected at Cinnabar Island. Shane got a staff he had possessed over the years, one of yellow wood that was even taller than he was, and Amber's picture.

Then they got out of their sock drawer the pinnacle of their treasures. Charlie had decided to hide them in case they were ever able to be stolen. They were two basic Pokeballs, in their miniature form, the size of a grape, that had been given to them by their father. They were told by their dad that if they believed in themselves that they could be Pokemon masters and those Pokeballs were their stepping stone.

Both of them had held the Pokeballs close to their heart after their parents were killed right in front of their eyes. The balls symbolized hope for them.

Hope for a better future.

The center white button for the balls was adhesive, so it was easy to attach to the waist of their pants.

Charlie stepped in the car, having a surge of hope in himself that things were finally turning out for the better. Charlie looked over at Shane to see that Shane was preoccupied by looking at the Pokeball their dad gave to them five years ago and smiling. As Charlie thought of the most reasonable ending to this episode of their lives-

_Probably a few months of hard work at achieving maximum perfection at training Pokemon with a great chance of getting a starter Pokemon of Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle. _He reasoned.

-Matis started his yellow jeep. He drove off the Gym's driveway onto the main highway. Lt. Surge took seven hours to get to Fuschia City, as Charlie waited patiently and Shane kept asking questions of what Matis knew about the place.

When they drove into Fushcia City Charlie saw through the windows a town with open spaces between each building. The open spaces allowed grass and tall herbs to grow. While they drove down the highway Charlie a building that said "Safari Zone".

"Matis," Charlie said. "What is the Safari Zone?"

"Oh it's a nature preserve where Pokemon rarely seen before except in those hundred or so miles of land are aloud to roam free," Matis said. "It has a great collection of rare Pokemon unlike ever before seen with mountain slopes and jungles that hold trees maybe a thousand years old."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Charlie heard Shane yell, climb right over Charlie (like the little goofy Mankey he was) and pressed his eyes up against the window Charlie had been staring out of before Shane pushed him away.

"Get off of me Shane!" Charlie cried.

"I want to go there! There! It sounds like the coolest place ever!" Shane said. "Huge trees and mountains and rare Pokemon sound awesome!"

"You'll have plenty of time for that Shane," Matis said. "But first you've got to go to this school."

"Oh," said Shane.

"Now get off of me!" Charlie yelled.

Shane reluctantly climbed off and put his seatbelt back on. Not far from the Safari Zone the car stops. In front of Charlie was a great, wide, tall skyscraper, the biggest building in height and width Charlie had ever seen. Right above the red door was a purple star and above that read "Violet Star Academy".

"Here you go boys," Matis said directly to Charlie. "I hear if you do what they tell you, you come out with enough strength to be a Gym leader."

Charlie did not exactly know how to take that except that if it was true then that was impossibly cool luck Matis allowed them to come here.

Charlie and Shane (Shane forced to worn sandals by Charlie's harsh commands) step out of the car into the late spring afternoon and stare at the building as Matis drives off. Charlie wouldn't stop staring at the star and remembering Lt. Surge's bold words about becoming as strong as a Gym leader. Charlie noticed Shane staring down the street, most likely looking at the Safari Zone, and smiling.

"Will you go in first?" Charlie said. "I'm kind of nervous."

"Okay," Shane replied happily.

Charlie saw Shane step through the purple door and close it behind him. A second later Shane's head bobbed out the door and stared at Charlie.

"Come on in Charlie," Shane said. "It smells nice in hear, like vanilla."

Charlie took a few nervous steps down the concrete of the street, opened the door, and stepped in. The was covered in sparkling tiles with a green hue. In the very center of the room was a fountain, that Charlie could see stretched into the air forty feet before coming back down into the pool below.

Charlie saw Shane walking around on the green tile, his staff prodding the shiny floor. Charlie walked around the room to find there was no one in sight.

_This is strange. _he thought. _How can no one be hear if this is to be such an awesome school?_

Charlie walked around to see a few vending machines and a catwalk on the wall that lead down to an enormous set of stairs, maybe sixty feet wide, and forty feet tall.

"Looks like a-" Shane would have said when, before they could see it.

Suddenly around Charlie's waist appeared a slim green vine. He was hoisted up into the air, along with Shane who he saw also had the vine wrapped around him.

Charlie could feel fear, panic, and despair kicking in as he felt he was about to die.

_Well. _Charlie thought. _This is it. So much for becoming Pokemon masters._

Instead of being squeezed to death or thrown to the floor sixty feet below them they were whirled around in mid-air. Charlie stared below to see the evolved form of Bellsprout, Weepinbell.

It's enormous, yellow bell shaped body ended in two large pink lips. It had very large eyes and the two green vines wrapped around Charlie and Shane came out from under Weepinbell's two large leaves.

"Bell," Weepinbell cried.

"Um…Shane this is scary!" Charlie cried.

Charlie saw Shane was paralyzed by fear, just as he was. Charlie couldn't take his eyes of Weepinbell's large mouth, which he imagined being sucked into. Charlie got even more panicked at the thought of being digested alive.

Suddenly, out of nowhere it seemed, a woman with auburn and a black uniform walked up behind the Weepinbell. Charlie grew even more afraid when he saw the big red R on the woman's shirt.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Charlie screamed like a maniac at the top of his lungs.

Team Rocket! They were hear and probably ready to roast the boys alive in a pot of boiling acid or order Weepinbell to swallow them!

"Flower Power," the pale skinned woman said coolly. "Grab only the two boys' wrists this time."

Weepinbell's vine whip let go!

Before Charlie or his brother could scream the Pokemon wrapped it's vine whip around Charlie's wrist.

"Please ma'm!" Shane screamed as Charlie saw tears dropping from his brother's eyes. "I beg of you to let us go!"

"I will as soon as you both drop your bags and that stick of your's," the Team Rocket woman said.

Charlie gripped the bag strap at his chest with his free hand, pulled it off, wished that it wouldn't break the Pokeball inside, and let go. Shane did the same with his staff and pack.

The woman walked over to pull out a silver device from her pocket. The device made a small BLEEP! sound with a blue light.

"It's clear," she said. "Let 'em go Flower Power."

The Weepinbell gently lowered Charlie and his brother to the floor and withdrew the vines into it's body. Charlie rushed over to his backpack and zipped it open. To Charlie's relief neither the stone nor the Pokeball in the bag was harmed.

Shane apparently did as he did, going through his bag and pulling out and undamaged Pokeball and glass encased picture of Amber. His staff was not harmed either.

"Now what in the world are you two doing here?" the woman asked.

"Here to become Pokemon trainers," Shane said meekly. "To learn how to raise Pokemon and make them stronger."

"Oh I see," the woman said. "Welcome to Team Rocket Cadet Association! The Purple Star Academy is a coverup. We'll teach how to be Pokemon trainers soon enough. But first you gotta get with the program."

"And what does that mean?" Charlie asked, his breath accelerating beyond normal.

The woman brought them to an elevator where they sailed up to floor eight. When they got off Charlie saw a long hallway of dormitory rooms, just like a college.

"If you to want to join us and become experts in the art of raising top quality Pokemon than you'll be staying in room forty-eight," she said. "My name is Charla by the way but you can call me Domino."

Charlie, not wanting to anger a Team Rocket agent, grabbed Shane by the wrist and walked to the room with a forty-eight on it. He opened the door to see seven, triple layer bunk beds. A poster on the wall showed the face of a man in business suit who had the face of a tyrannical leader.

"So do want to join to become Pokemon masters, also learning other Team Rocket arts along the way, or go back to your normal lives?" Domino asked. "Because if you choose the second of those options you will not be able to breath a word about this place or…well to are old enough to know?"

"Could we have a moment to discuss this?" Shane asked.

"Fine by me," Domino said.

Charlie and Shane walked behind a bunk bed.

"I think we should stay," Charlie said. "Look man I know it's dangerous and all but we have no where else to go."

"So we're to be criminals?" Shane asked. "Thieves and evil people like Team Rocket? I don't think so."

"Where are you going to go?" Charlie asked. "It's time we took charge of our own lives. They're going to give us shelter and apparently food, okay? It's not as bad as some options."

Shane was now looking like he had this morning over Amber's picture but without the tears. Charlie just couldn't get a grip on the reality of this. The only way to get a stable home, to find his destiny, was join Team Rocket! Does any of that make sense? But it was the only way.

Now Charlie was the one getting emotional. He was holding back tears now, trying to keep his silly emotions out of this.

_Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. _Charlie thought. _Because of that law of human nature physics I can shutdown or let loose my emotions at will. Shane never learned that power but he's just as mentally strong as I am. I'm not letting this chance get away. I'm going to be a Pokemon master, whether my brother likes it or not._

Charlie stared at Shane and Shane stared right back. They had a mutual understanding they would do whatever it took to learn about Pokemon and how to raise them from that look.

"Team Rocket will continue on anyway," Charlie said. "Not joining isn't going to help that."

"I know, okay?" Shane said. "Let's both stop whining and do this."

They came back around from the bunk bed to see Domino give them a smug look.

"We'll join," Charlie said.

"Alright," Domino said. "Now about our team chant…"


	7. Remembering Old Places With New Friends

**Chapter 7: Remembering Old Places With New Friends**

"So Amber?" Charmandertwo asked. "What is this place?"

"I call it my remember place," Amber replied. "Lately, when I remember something from my old life I'm able to project it into something that can be touched."

Amber waved her hand forward and she saw the little Pokemon all look towards their first sight of what Amber thought of as "the real world."

Amber saw the three Pokemon gaze upon the sand and volleyball court that was behind her house as the water washed over the loose sand. Amber was showing Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo what it was like on her first day ever at the beach, with the waves rolling out of the entirety of the ocean and gently splashing over the loose land.

"Come on guys!" Amber said as she strolled across the beach barefoot. "It's fun!"

Charmandertwo followed after Amber and Bulbasaurtwo went out into the saltwater, apparently curious of what water was.

Squirtletwo ran up to Amber's side and started sifting the sand through her little fingers.

"That's sand Squirtletwo," Amber replied as she kept walking. "It's the type of earth you find at the beach."

Squirtletwo looked up at her curiously.

"Is it only at the beach?" Squirtletwo asked.

"Not always but it's usually near water," Amber said.

"I think water's the coolest thing yet!" Amber heard Bulbasaurtwo cry.

Amber turned her head to see Bulbasaurtwo being washed over and over in the seawater. He seemed to like the feeling of the waves sifting across his skin as he was continually dragged back to the coast.

"This is real cool!" Bulbasaurtwo said.

"I think your crazy!" Charmandertwo said. "That water looks dangerous!"

Amber leaned down and smiled at Charmandertwo.

"You're a Fire-type Pokemon!" Amber said. "Water hurts you so stay away from it! But for other Pokemon it's perfectly fine!"

Amber laughed at how silly Charmandertwo was being! Water never hurt a Grass-type Pokemon much! Charmandertwo was giving Amber an awkward look as he had never been this close to any other living creature's face. Amber realized this as she saw the awkward curiosity in his eyes.

Amber was about to go, grab Squirtletwo, and jump into the ocean when she felt a tug at the hem of her dress.

Amber looked around to find it was Squirtletwo. She looked a little bit perplexed as she sifted sand through her hands, transfixed on the tiny grains moving at the force of gravity.

"Amber…where did this sand come from?" she asked. "Where did the water come from? How did it get to where you came from? Why is the only way things are here because you imagine they are? How are there actual things in that place and only otherwise darkness in this place?"

Amber was now the perplexed one. She didn't know how to respond to Squirtletwo's question. All she could think of to say was "It's there because it's there.", which wouldn't be a very good answer.

"I don't know Squirtletwo," Amber said. "Some things we just aren't meant to know. In fact I don't know how I ended up here in the first place. I'm even more surprised that I found you three."

She could tell that she had their attention now. Charmandertwo had stopped staring at the water as if it were about to hurt him and Bulbasaurtwo had stopped tossing his body back and forth into the ocean waves and was now walking towards Amber.

_They're curious about what lives and exists beyond this world. _Amber thought.

"I just got here one day after…well…after…" Amber tried to say.

Tears streamed down her eyes as she remembered the cruel event that sent her to this place of darkness.

"What happened Amber?" Squirtletwo asked, seeming very interested.

"Whatever it was it was obviously sad," Charmandertwo remarked.

Instead of wasting her time telling them Amber just wished to show them what happened and they knew what happened. Amber allowed the Pokemon to see Lt. Surge's muscle cutting off her respiration in some plot that involved Team Rocket.

The Charmandertwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Squirtletwo looked shocked.

"Why…?" Squirtletwo asked.

"Oh my gosh that was horrible!" Bulbasaurtwo screamed. "How could someone do that to you Amber?"

"Didn't you guys hear what the blond human said?" Charmandertwo said. "It involved some sort plan to gain something from Amber's death. It was obvious that this guy…or whoever else for that matter, wanted something that could be gained from Amber's death. Apparently we're proof that plan is underway."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Squirtletwo asked skeptically as Bulbasaurtwo looked like he just saw the most disturbing thing on Earth.

"Because Lt. Surge said something about having the four strongest Pokemon," Charmandertwo said. "And we're Pokemon. Not only that but we're apparently different from original Pokemon because of our markings and ability to talk like humans."

"But there are only three Pokemon," Squirtletwo said. "That's four minus one and it couldn't include Amber because he said something about also obtaining a psychic human, which is probably her."

"Than that means the fourth is yet to come," Charmandertwo said, very prophetically.

"And those people are on the outside world," Amber said. "If they plan to use us then we may eventually find ourselves there sooner or later."

"Find ourselves there doing _what _exactly?" Squirtletwo asked.

"I'm not sure," Amber said shaking her head.

Amber was now scared. What would Team Rocket want with her and her new friends? Knowing Team Rocket it could not be good once-so-ever.

"Hey guys!" Amber said on a lighter note. "Instead of being worried we should have fun! We're friends, remember?"

"But what about what that evil man did to you?" Bulbasaurtwo asked, still clearly disturbed.

"Don't worry!" Amber said happily, wiping tears out of her eyes. "We'll have fun anyway."

Amber focuses and drew upon a later memory.

It was where she had played with Charlie and Shane in the field in the middle of Cinnabar Island. The three Pokemon looked around at the tall bushels of saw grass dotting the landscape and Charmandertwo seemed noticed the volcanic mountain in the distance. Amber looked down at the Pokemon and smiled.

"Okay," she said. "Let's play hide and go seek!"

Before they could ask what that was Amber showed them telepathically what it was.

Bulbasaurtwo gave Amber a perplexed gaze, an obvious sign of confusion to him.

"Why would we hide just so you could find us?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Because it's fun!" Amber said. "Fun for all of us!"

"I think running around and chasing you guys is plenty of fun!" Squirtletwo said. "I'll be the one to count to twenty-five while the rest of you go find somewhere to hide!"

"You know what, that does sound fun!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "Start counting Squirtletwo!"

Squirtletwo put her arms over her eyes and started counting as Amber, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo scattered. They played for what Amber could guess was four hours. Each and every one of them became it more than twice. She came up with very clever and exciting hiding places. Amber had hidden quietly in a bush of saw grass and kept on running away from whoever was while making random noises to steer them in the wrong direction.

Bulbasaurtwo had the hardest time being it. He was the slowest and all four of his limbs were used to run so it was hard to tag others. Charmandertwo had accidentally lit something on fire twice with the burning flame on his tail. He learned to coil his tail back after the second time. Squirtletwo used her first move, water gun, that she used to quench the small flames both times.

_That's a pretty forceful water gun for a Pokemon as young as she is. _Amber thought as Squirtletwo eroded a bit of the ground, when she put out the fire burning on the grass.

Squirtletwo was exceptional good at being hide and go seek. When Amber was it Squirtletwo astonished her when she found out Squirtletwo had been continually levitating behind Amber, moving left to right to avoid being seen. When Squirtletwo revealed herself Amber was shocked at first and then laughed and kissed Squirtletwo where a nose would have been on a human. Squirtletwo was obviously astounded by that and looked perplexed until Amber explained what it was.

And so, after playing for who knows how long, Amber decided she introduced the Pokemon to night time.

At the will of her mind the sky grew dark and the scene changed from a field to a sandbar. Amber had once been out on the ocean late at night and her Daddy allowed her to go to the sandbar, however, after playing for thirty minutes they went back home. She had always wondered what it would be like to sleep on that patch of sand in the middle of the water.

Now she had the chance.

The sandbar's loose earth felt cozy to Amber as she curled up in the sand. Through telepathy she explained to the Pokemon what night time was.

_It's when the sun goes down for a little while and your not awake for a little while. _Amber explained through images of her going to sleep when it got dark.

"How do you get to sleep?" Charmandertwo asked.

"You close your eyes and stop thinking," Amber said. "It'll happen."

Charmandertwo did as Amber instructed, curling up in a circle and laying down on the sandbar quietly. Bulbasaurtwo didn't. He seemed to examine the entire area of the sandbar, looking and watching how the water washed over the little patch of land and grinning at the full moon.

"Buuulba," Bulbasaurtwo cried at the moon.

"The light of the sun reflects of the moon," Amber said. "So you can see at night."

Bulbasaurtwo nodded delightedly, staring at the only satellite earth had.

As Amber was about to go to sleep, Squirtletwo walked up to her.

"Can I sleep at your side?" she asked.

Amber smiled and Squirtletwo curled up at Amber's side and smiled complacently. And for the first time the Pokemon fell asleep.


	8. Naughty Nature

**Chapter 8: Naughty Nature**

"More lemonade?" Amber asked.

"Squirrrrrtllllle!" Squirtletwo replied and nodded her head..

Squirtletow felt happy within herself. Amber had now brought them to a memory of her on a nice summer afternoon at a "tropical resort". Squirtletwo was sitting in a lawn chair, an umbrella over her head, while Amber poured from a large pitcher lemonade into Squirtletwo's glass.

It was after they had woken up that Amber brought them here. She said that they needed some "chill time" so she decided this was a good place for it. After pouring her some lemonade, Squirtletwo watched Amber pour herself some. The best Squirtletwo could figure out of Amber right now was that she was a kind, gentle soul, trying to make friends with them.

"Hey guys!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Watch this!"

Squirtletwo witnessed from her lawn chair, while sipping her beverage through a straw, Bulbasaurtwo ran right into a tree. He was thrown back by the force but to Squirtletwo's surprise ran in circles around the tree for a minute and then rammed into it again.

"Tell me," Squirtletwo said to Amber. "Why is he doing this?"

"When I told you guys about Pokemon trainers and battles in the outside world," Amber said. "He wants to be as strong as possible for any sort of battling he can be. I told him that physical training was one of the ways he could do that."

"I just hope he doesn't kill himself," Squirtletwo said and took another drink of lemonade.

She turned over to Charmandertwo, his chair touching her chair.

He was sitting in sideways, unlike her and Amber, reading an alphabet book Amber had been reading when she came here. Charmandertwo was curious to see what it was and was now reading it.

"Hey Charmandertwo," Squirtletwo said. "We came out here to relax, not bore ourselves do death."

"This could come in very handy when we enter into the outside world," he said with a very serious demeanor. "It could be the difference between success and failure, according to what Amber told me."

"What did you tell stick in the mud here?" Squirtletwo asked.

"Merely that I went to school everyday because I needed to learn so I could survive when I was older," Amber replied. "Charmandertwo took it upon himself to do what he is doing now."

"That's right," Charmandertwo said. "Like a responsible young individual."

Squirtletwo then had a perfectly naughty idea. Bulbasaurtwo said he liked the smell of lemonade a lot and he would have some as soon as he was done training. But Squirtletwo thought of a way to break his self-control…including Charmandertwo's fear of water…

"Hey Charmandertwo?" Squirtletwo innocently asked. "Want some lemonade?"

"Oh no," Charmandertwo said as kept on reading about the alphabet, carefully sounding out each letter. "I want to stay away from liquids as much as-"

Squirtletwo through what was left of her glass of lemonade on Charmandertwo! It splashed onto his body, narrowly missing Amber's alphabet book.

"Liquid!" Charmandertwo yelled. "Liquid is on my body!"

Squirtletwo saw him jump off his chair and ran around, screaming in panic, about how deadly it was.

"It's soaking into my skin, killing my ever muscle fiber and skin cell!" Charmandertwo yelled.

Squirtletwo busted out laughing at his panic.

"Squit-squirt-squirt-squirt-squirtle," she laughed.

"That wasn't nice," Amber remarked.

"But look!" Squirtletwo said in her defense. "It's all in his head! He's not even hurt! He's panicking for no reason!"

_Now here comes the funny part…_ She thought.

Squirtletwo saw Bulbasaurtwo was jumping into the air as far as he could, counting aloud as Charmandertwo ran around screaming.

"Twelve…thirteen…fourteen…" Squirtletwo witnessed Bulbasaurtwo stop jumping as he caught the scent of something.

"Lemonade!" Bulbasaurtwo cried.

Squirtletwo saw, and cried from laughter, as Bulbasaurtwo tackled Charmandertwo to the ground and started licking his skin of lemonade.

Now Squirtletwo could hear Amber laughing!

They both laughed as Bulbasaurtwo licked Charamandertwo's back, avoiding the flame on his tail, as he pinned him to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Charmandertwo said. "The wetness of you tounge is only speeding up my death!"

"So delicious!" Bulbasaurtwo cried.

"Okay," Amber said as she rolled over to where she was at level with Squirtletwo's eyes. "That was funny!"

And Squirtletwo thought she would die of laughter at how hard she was laughing.


	9. Theft

**Chapter 9: Theft**

"In my opinion, this sucks!" Shane said.

Shane was dangling a foot above the floor, a foot away from his nose infra red lights that ran straight across the room, a rope tied to his ankle. Charlie was holding the rope from his stance in the air vent within the ceiling. Charlie had actually removed sections of the ceiling with a buzz saw he got from their classmate Tommy Ray and Shane made sure he had ready glue that would stick the pieces of plaster and metal back to into the ceiling.

Shane was in his least favorite teacher's room, Executive Helen Miller. They were trying to steal her _Getting In Touch With Your Inner Disciplinarian _book volume set, located in the locked cabinets near her desk. Shane had turned off the security cameras with an electro-magnetic field generator, something that looked like a pen with a cap that couldn't come off and a red button, that he got from Charlotte Fields.

"I want back at Miller for starving my Nidoran," Charlotte told Shane.

Shane was the one doing the physically stealing because both of them hated heights, neither of them could win an argument to give good enough reasons why should go, and Shane lost in a two out of three rock, paper, scissors match.

Shane hated this school.

_It's hardly a school and more like a prison camp for kids who have no where else to go. _Shane thought. _Eight year old kids like me who have no other home. _

He'd been here only three months and he'd seen what this place was like. Being forced to steal Executive Miller's books was only the tip of the iceberg.

On the first day he was here, Domino had explained what Cadet Points were (C-Points for shorts.

"C-Points are what you get for being a good Rocket Cadet," Domino said. "You have to get them to survive here."

_Survive was the perfect word. _Shane couldn't help but believe.

Overseen by the Executives who taught and ran the Academy, C-Points were either cashed in on a computer and kept record of, or given to you as coins with the face of their leader, Giovanni, and the inscription, "Conquering more of the world each day." on the front and their insignia R on the back.

They had classes such as The Art of Stealing, Technology and Equipment Specialization, Pokemon Biology courses, and Pokemon Battle Training. You could guess what they taught and how Team Rocket used them. But the school did more than just teach you about being a Team Rocket agent, it made you into a hardened criminal. See, the way you got C-Points was by doing various tasks.

You got a C-Point each time you defeated another person's Pokemon with your own (but Shane and his brother did not have Pokemon). You got a C-Point by effectively torturing another student until they told an embarrassing secret to the entire Team Rocket Academy. You got a C-Point by correctly working a difficult machine or putting one together. You got a C-Point by getting out of a locked room with no food or water. You got a C-Point for effectively killing a civilian without getting caught. You got a C-Point for winning in hand to hand combat with another person. You got a C-Point for making a stealing another person's Pokemon and you got to decide whether to give it back or not. You got a C-Point for stealing something from another person and not getting caught until the next day, which was what Shane was doing with Charlie. There were others but Shane couldn't remember them all.

What if you don't have C-Points?

Well, everything costs C-Points. Food at lunch costs a C-Points. If you wore your clothes into class for one day in the week, it was a weekly C-Point. If you went to the infirmary it costs 2 C-Points. Pokemon food cost a C-Point per pound and water for them cost a C-Point per liter. It cost 2 C-Points to get your laundry washed. It cost a C-Point to flush the toilet. It cost a C-Point for every bath and shower you take. (There were actually very luxurious baths that you could go in but cost as high as 10 C-Points.) Every thirty minutes of television on cost a C-Point. Materials you needed for projects you could get from the school in exchange for C-Points.

There were kids who came in only their underwear because they either had no C-Points or were saving C-Points. Shane had seen far too often seen boys in only their underwear and girls in rags that the Executives gave them because they couldn't afford to wear clothing that week. It saddened him because there was nothing he could do to help.

And the Executives controlled the flow and distribution of C-Points. Occasionally, like with Charlotte, they deliberately took away some of her C-Points because she had accumulated a fair amount. They did this just so she would start doing tasks to get C-Points and her Nidoran starved until she had enough C-Points to give her a decent amount of food.

Why did they do this?

It was to make them familiar with operations and strategies and learn the instincts one needed to be a good Team Rocket agent. It was to mold you into a hardened criminal that would be skilled at being bad. Team Rocket worked together but if you had the skills to work alone you were even better working with just as skilled agents.

Anyway, both Tommy and Charlotte were taking a risk because if it was found out this stuff came from them, they would get a C-Point taken away. The system ran like that so anyone helping would be wary of helping others.

The worst part was that he and Charlie had nowhere else to go. It was either this or certain tragedy living on the streets or slums. Man, Shane hated his life at times like this.

"Now Shane," he heard Charlie say. "Just hold on for a second while I cut the ceiling some more."

Shane heard the familiar VVVRRRRREEEEEMMMM!

Shane looked up as he saw the whirling blade of the buzz saw cut through the ceiling. Shane knew Charlie was doing this so he could move the rope down through the ceiling until he got to the cabinets. When Shane looked back down he saw the infra red lights moving closer!

"Charlie!" Shane screamed. "The rope is slipping!"

"No!" he heard Charlie reply over the scream of the buzz saw. "It's just the red beams are moving closer! If you get hit it will set off the alarm!"

Shane panicked. His breath was hyperventilating. Executive Miller didn't like him as it was. Being caught in attempt to steal her reading material, she may take C-Points from Shane and his brother! Shane hadn't Or worse, send them to detention! He'd heard rumors about doing that, having to sneak off at night and do a special mission that was supposed to be super dangerous!

"Shane catch!" Shane heard Charlie scream.

Shane saw Charlie heave a flat, square portion of silver metal a foot wide. Charlie had cut through the air vent metal with the buzz saw.

It hit the rope that suspended him in the air and then fell, hit Shane's bare foot, and fell again for Shane to catch it with both hands. He immediately stuck the reflective metal down in front of the infra red beams. Just as he had hoped they would three beams reflected the beams at a forty- five degree angle at the wall.

Shane breathed a sigh of relief but then noticed the beams were getting closer. Shane moved the metal square farther up to counter the infra red beams but he could only move it so far up before it would come in contact with his waist and legs which he couldn't protect.

"Charlie you gotta move me and fast man!" Shane said over the noise of the buzz saw.

"But I'm not done cutting through the ceiling!" Charlie replied.

"Then move me just to the desk!" Shane yelled.

Charlie ran over the inside of the air vent, grabbed the rope that suspended Shane and moved him through the ceiling that had been cut away. Charlie hadn't cut through the ceiling to get Shane right above the cabinet, so as soon as Charlie got Shane right above the desk, Charlie took out his pocket knife and cut though the rope.

As Shane braced himself to fall onto the desk his breathing became even more rapid. The beams were getting closer and closer to the point where he could no longer keep himself from coming in contact with him. Just as the beams got past his belly button Shane fell!

His stomach hit the table and knocked the wind out of Shane. As he tried to catch his breath Charlie whispered to him.

"Don't get off the table," Charlie said. "Remember how Tommy told us that as soon as the beams hit the ceiling another wave appears."

Shane had forgotten about that part. After Shane had caught his breath he reached his hand into his pocket and found a what he was looking for. It was the key to the cabinet they had swiped right from Executive Miller's jeans. It was Shane who suggested stealing the key for an extra C-Point and he was glad that he did.

Shane looked directly at the cabinet and in a single leap jumped onto the top. Shane looked down below, slipped the key into the keyhole, and turned. He pulled out the top drawer to discover the _Disciplinarian _books Executive Miller had.

"I got 'em!" Shane yelled.

Charlie stepped a bit deeper into the air vent and came back with a large sack that he held out.

Shane tossed each book, one at a time, into the sack. Twelve books in all were contained in the sack after Shane was done. Charlie tied the opening end of the sack into a knot and put it behind him.

"Okay!" Charlie yelled. "Hurry back up, the infra red's moving up again! And don't forget that metal!"

Shane looked down and to his surprise saw the infra red beams were in fact moving up again. Shane started climbing up the rope as fast as he could with one hand, the metal square in his left, while Charlie pulled it up into the air vent. Shane got back into the air vent while the beams were still four feet below.

Shane and his brother to the squares Charlie had cut up with the buzz saw and laid them in place after putting special glue Charlie had got from Tommy Ray on the edges of where the squares of the ceiling had once been. It was supposed to be really strong but take various timing to dry depending on the material. Tommy said with plaster it shouldn't take more than three hours to completely dry.

Shane gave Charlie a high-five after seeing what they had done.

"Miller won't even know their stolen," Charlie said. "Now tomorrow, before class starts, we go give this to Executive Miles with the key and two C-Points will be ours."

"_Finally _I can take a bath," Shane said.

"I'm just glad we'll get to eat another day at the cafeteria," Charlie said as they crawled through the air vent. "I hear tomorrow's pasta for lunch with deep dish blueberry pie."

That made Shane's mouth water. He was caught up in the fantasy of food when he thought of something.

"Hey Charlie," Shane said.

"Yeah."

"Do you think we can still be Pokemon masters, being Team Rocket Cadets and all?" Shane asked.

"I think so," Charlie said. "But we gotta prove ourselves before getting a good Fire-type and Grass-type Pokemon. The Executives won't let us have good Pokemon unless they know we're capable. That and we need enough C-Points to raise them."

Shane sighed.

_What he's saying is we'll have to stay here longer. _He thought. _A place where no one cared about you except your own brother and you had to prove yourself before getting anything you want. When I finally get my Pokemon I'm going to use it to destroy this place. _


	10. This Is Awful

**Chapter 10: This Is Awful**

"Come on Charlie!" Charlie yelled. "Out of bed!"

"What?" his older brother moaned.

"Field trip remember?" Charlie said.

Shane slowly rose up as Charlie kept on nudging him. Charlie looked at Shane hopefully. Everyone around them was scurrying to brush their teeth, combing their hair, putting makeup on and other stuff. Shane and Charlie had put the books of Executive Miller's and her key into Executive Miles' arms and told him both of us had done our part to help.

They explained how we successfully got past the locked doors and infra red beams and he immediately gave them two C-Point coins! They were in Charlie's pillow for safe keeping. But Shane was still tired from what happened last night and Charlie didn't blame him.

"Come on and get up!" Charlie said. "Come on!"

"I think we should skip the field trip," Shane said. "Let's ditch it and do something cool instead. We could go to the Safari Zone and explore it like we did last Thursday."

"I don't know about that," Charlie said. "Executive Miller said we proved to him we could handle this extremely important role in the field trip. Don't you remember when he told us that last night?"

"Not really," Shane said. "If it's a field trip furnished by Team Rocket, how could that possibly something worth going to?"

"We might miss a big opportunity," Charlie said. "If we pull this off correctly we could secure ourselves a long ways up in the success ladder in Team Rocket. The sooner we do, the sooner we could get our dream Pokemon and the sooner we get more money."

Shane smiled.

"My dream Pokemon…" Shane said and Charlie saw on his face the look of sweet contemplation. "I can't decide between Tangela, Exeggcute, Oddish, Bellsprout, their evolutions and-"

"Well you won't get them by sleeping or goofing off," Charlie said matter of fact-ly. "We're just going to go do this part, all right?"

"Do you even know what it is we're doing?" Shane asked curiously.

"Nope," Charlie said. "Executive Miles said it would be a surprise and that we should have our Team Rocket uniforms on."

"I don't know about that Charlie," Shane said. "I'd rather be swinging on vines in the Safari Zone and swim in the watering holes than on a Team Rocket mission."

"We have to if we want Team Rocket to think we're worthy enough to be strong Pokemon trainers. We gotta do things we don't particularly like."

Shane looked down at the bed kind of sorrowful.

"Okay," Shane replied.

"Don't worry," Charlie said. "It'll be fun!"

**R**

"This is awful," Shane said.

"Give us the Aerodactyl now or we blow their brains out!" Executive Miles yelled with Executive Miller and Executive Petrel standing beside him.

"No we won't," Shane said to them. "It'll be okay."

Charlie were standing inside a laboratory on Cinnabar Island with maybe fifteen Team Rocket cadets forming a barrier in front of them, all of their classmates who their Executives knew had powerful Pokemon that could fit into the building. There were scientists standing in white lab coats, staring them down, with ten or so armed police officers. Charlie was glad the police couldn't see Shane or him, protected from their eyes by the mass of Team Rocket agents.

"You got some nerve sneaking into this place!" a police chief said. "Surrender Rockets!"

"We'll go quietly with no casualties if you just give us the Pokemon you regenerated from that fossil," Executive Miller said.

"We'll never do that!" a scientist said.

"Than we have to do away with your family!" Miller yelled at them.

"No," Shane replied. "She's bluffing."

And that was their part. Charlie was holding a gun to the back of a young woman, tied up with a gag around his mouth. Shane had a gun in his hand pointed towards the back of her four year old, tied just as the boy was. Both of them were crying and moaning in fear.

"_This_ is soooooo wrong," Shane whispered. "I'm really sorry. Trust me I'm not going to hurt you. If only my idiot brother wouldn't have woken me out of bed this morning."

"Hey!" Charlie said. "It's not our fault! Stupid Team Rocket would've done it anyway!"

"We were the ones who helped them sneak into this place!" Shane said. "Who knew a tunnel, some buzz saws, and a some of Tommy Ray's glue was all it took to sneak into a highly guarded lab without anyone noticing."

What Shane said was true. They had come here via submarine that was guarded by the rest of the Rocket cadets. Miles, inspired by what Shane and Charlie did, dug a tunnel at first to get inside the building and then used buzz saws to get through the floor and glued the floor back together. Then they all climbed into the air vents and crawled in and jumped out into the computer room via rope. Before they got caught Miller had hacked into the lab's computers and copied all of the scientists research onto a CD.

When they were caught by the scientists they rushed out but not before Petrel noticing a mother and her kid and kidnapping them. They then used their rope they had brought and captured them. The police rushed over as soon as they could and…well that's where they were.

Charlie's mind was plagued by guilt.

_This is all my fault. _he thought. _I shouldn't have agreed to do this. A field trip with Team Rocket? Please, I should have known I would at least be involved in breaking in to a place._

"That's my family!" a scientist in a lab coat said. "If you lay a hand on them I'll kill you!"

"Tell it to the kid Daddy," Executive Miller said.

"Now you hand us over that Aerodactyl or we put some lead in your beloved," Executive Miles said.

"That won't happen," Shane assured the hostages.

"Admit it, your in no position to barter. So give us what we want," Miles said.

Charlie saw the scientists started murmuring to themselves, trying to decide what to do.

"Team Rocket may have not gotten this far if we never showed them what to do!" Shane said. "This is all our fault!"

"Fine!" Charlie said. "It is! Now would you shut up!"

Charlie tried to calm down. An idea was forming in Charlie's head about how they could let the young wife of the scientist escape with her children. He and Shane were already a fair distance from most of the group and they weren't even paying attention to them.

"Charlie we _cannot _and _will not _hurt-" Shane was saying.

"I know!" Charlie yelled quietly. "Now would you shut up and just follow my plan!"

"What's your plan?" Shane asked.

"It'll let these two get away safely but without the rest of them knowing that were the ones who helped them," Charlie said. "If this doesn't work the Executives will either execute us or at least kick us out of the Academy when they find out."

Charlie was so scared. He didn't want to kill anyone but if push came to shove and the Executives ordered their death, what could Charlie do? Why did seven year olds have to be put in this position?

Charlie brought out his most prized possession yet, his pocket knife. He bought it from Tommy Ray with for a C-Point a few weeks ago. Charlie thought the knife was worth more than triple its price he got it for. It had so many different types of tools besides a simple blade like screwdrivers, corkscrews, and other nifty tools. But for now Charlie would just use the blade.

Charlie walked over to the woman and started sawing the rope restraining the woman's arms but made sure not to saw all the way through.

"Don't worry ma'm," Charlie said. "Just stay calm and don't get up and run just yet. Can you tell your child to remain as quiet as possible until we get a distraction?"

He pulled the young woman's gag down to her neck.

"Son?" the woman said. "When these boys cut the rope be still until I tell you to get up and run."

The boy nodded.

"So what do we do?" Shane asked.

"I'll use the gun to shoot the lights," Charlie said. "While its dark they make a break for it and we act like we were injured."

"Won't work," Shane replied. "They'll know _we_ shot the lights by the direction it came and the noise. Plus, that won't explain what happened to use while they lights were off."

Shane just explained the obvious holes in my plan. It sent my mind in frustration to think of another plan.

"Don't worry," Shane said.

He reached into his pants, felt around a little, and took out the electro magnetic field generator he used last night. Shane, like all of the cadets, had clothes beneath their white uniforms with R on them.

"I wore the same clothes as I did yesterday," Shane said. "Sorry."

Charlie rolled his eyes. His gentle natured, naïve brother didn't even care that he wore the same clothes as the day before. Charlie had told Shane not to a million times before but today it may have saved a woman and her son's life.

"I'll trigger the magnetic field while you cut the boy's ropes and she'll run down the hall, out of the lab," Shane said. "Then the police will take care of Team Rocket."

"Do we want them to take care of Team Rocket?" Charlie asked.

"Yes we do," Shane replied.

"But how will we explain the two of them getting lose?" Charlie asked.

"We'll pretend a Scyther from nowhere came out and cut the ropes," Shane said. "I'll make a Scyther imitation while you do that."

Charlie started cutting the ropes that held the boys feet apart. Then Charlie cut away what restrained his legs. Charlie then went to work on the woman's leg ropes and cut through them. The woman could break through what was left of the ropes but the little boy didn't have that strength. He untied the boy's gag and nodded to Shane.

"Hear's the Aerodactyl!" a scientist cried, holding out a Pokeball.

"Now," the woman said to her son.

Charlie saw Shane press the red button on the device.

And the lights went out due to all electricity in the building short circuiting by the magnetic field. It was pitch black and Charlie had no visibility. Charlie and Shane automatically dropped their guns.

Charlie heard the boy and his mother getting up and running away. Before he felt her hug him and whisper "Thank-you."

"Scyther!" Shane cried, sounding exactly like a Scyther. "Scyther! Scyth! Scyth! Scyth!"

_Shane's been to the Safari Zone so many times, a lot more than I have. _Charlie thought. _He must be able to mimic the Pokemon sounds he's heard there. _

Charlie put the blade back in the knife and put it back in his pocket, just so no evidence would be found he cut the ropes.

"Aahh!" Shane and Charlie cried in false pain.

Charlie laid down on the floor, holding his chest like he'd been hit there. All the while, Charlie could here sounds of chaos and screaming from the cadets he attended the Academy with.

"What the heck just happened?" a guy screamed.

"Who's there?" someone else said.

"That was a Scyther!"

"Who did this?" someone yelled. "Is this a malfunction?"

"Who's Scyther was that?"

"Turn on the lights," someone moaned.

"Ow! Get off me!" a girl yelled.

Charlie felt around for Shane until he felt someone's body lying on the ground who said in Shane's voice "Is that you Charlie?".

Charlie got real close to Shane so he could whisper to him.

"Just give it another minute or two," Charlie whispered. "We'll make sure to give the woman and her son just a bit more time. Just enough to make absolutely sure she got out."

"Kay," Shane replied.

"Then you pocket the device and turn the field," Charlie whispered very quietly.

"Ouch! My foot!" a person yelled.

"Was that a Scyther?" someone asked.

Charlie waited for a long moment, the screams and confused yells sort of scaring him, but still keeping his cool. Then he whispered, "Now."

Five seconds later the lights came back on.

"Ow!" Charlie, Shane, and everyone in the room yelped.

The adjustment from darkness to light hurt their eyes and stung for a bit. Then Charlie's eyes adjusted and so did everyone else's.

Charlie's classmates' eyes seem to turn to him and his brother.

"What happened to the hostages?" a girl asked.

"Apparently a Scyther came out of no where while the lights were out," Charlie said, hoping they would by it.

"It cut the ropes and when we tried to grab hold of it, the Scyther just kicked us down," Shane said, the electro-magnetic field generator gone from his hands. "They're long gone by now."

_Oh please by it. _Charlie pleaded in his mind. _Please don't think in terms of how or why but what we just answered, like, who or when. Don't think deep into it…_

"The Scyther must have been a guard Pokemon, hidden somehow!" a cadet said.

"Yeah! I heard the Scyther myself!"

"Someone on the police must have turned the lights off and sent out a Scyther!"

"Scyther are sneaky and fast! It could very have just zoomed over here as soon as someone killed the lights!"

"Ah! The disc!" Charlie heard Executive Miller scream.

Charlie and Shane slowly rose up to stand to see Executive Miller holding up her right hand. It was devoid of the disc of lab information. Charlie could see a police man with the disc in his hand.

He smiled a coy smile. "I merely stole the information from your hand when the lights were off. Would not one of your petty Rocket Agents do the same thing?"

"You crooks!" Miller yelled and held up a Pokeball from out of her pocket. "Give. That. Back. Now."

The police man with the disc got a Pokeball out as well from his belt.

"Over my dead body," the police man said.

"It would have had to come to that if you would have just given me the Aerodactyl Pokemon or given me the disc back," Miller said.

"Go Machoke!" Charlie heard Miles yell.

From the inside the Pokeball came a human-like, blue Pokemon, with a yellow belt and black athletic shorts, that intimidated Charlie. Even though Charlie was at least thirty feet away from it, the sight of its huge muscle made Charlie sure it could decimate this entire building.

"Machoke," the Pokemon cried.

"Go Raticate!" Petrel yelled.

From his Pokeball came a tan furred rat Pokemon with buck teeth and nude tail. It scowled at his the people across from him.

"Haunter go!" Miller yelled.

And finally Miller's Pokemon was a Pokemon Charlie immediately recognized to be a Ghost-type. It had a large tongue with no feet and hands not attached to its body. It was purple and had a creepy grin on its face.

Charlie saw three police men standing next to each other, one with the disc in his hand, throw their Pokemon out.

On chose a Ponyta, one of Charlie's favorite Pokemon, a Tangela, a Pokemon covered in vine revealing only its toeless feet and large eyes, and a Pikachu, an electric Pokemon that Charlie thought looked kind of cute.

"You okay?" a cadet asked Charlie and Shane.

"Fine," Shane said quickly.

"Scyther just knocked us down," Charlie thought of to say. "All it wanted to do was get us out of the dame and her brat's way. Dang hostages, just can't stand still."

"You got that right," the cadet, Sarah Mallarki, said.

"Can we fight with you, Madam Miller?" a cadet behind her asked.

"Oh no child," Miller said. "I'll tell you when to battle with your own Pokemon soon. These goody-to-shoes just need to be taught a lesson."

"Bunch a retards think they can take on the Rockets," Miles said.

"I'll show you who and who is not retarded!" a police officer cried. "Ponyta shoot a Flamethrower at Haunter!"

"Pony!" the Pokemon cried.

The Pokemon's mane and tail of fire grew twice as big as soon as it exhaled a scorching blast of red and yellow fire.

"What a simpleton," Charlie heard Miller say. "Haunter use your telekineisis."

"Haunt-ooooorrrrr!" Haunter screamed and from his eyes glowed a faint blue light.

The Flamthrower stopped an inch in front of Haunter's face. The shot of flames kept pulsing and moving from Ponyta's mouth but refused to go an inch further to make contact with Haunter's head.

"Get creative on me Haunter," Miller said.

"Haunt," Haunter said as he nodded at Miler its trainer.

Suddenly the Flamethrower took on the same blue light as Haunter's eyes. As soon as it did it split into a hundred different fireballs that levitated in the air. Then the fireballs molded into arrow shapes that were poised at Ponyta.

The arrow flames hit Ponyta, impacting its every square inch of its body.

"Pony…at," it cried weakly as its pale skin looked slightly blackened.

"I'd like a Shadow Ball at that pathetic thing," Miller said.

"Haunt-or!" Haunter roared.

From Haunter's chest hundreds of shadows of shadows were thrown across the wall. The shadows had morbid detail that were so strange because they seemed to depict something extremely lifelike but just couldn't be explained in words. But one word could describe the detailed shadows: morbid. The shadows cast upon the wall looked like fierce creatures ready to attack.

Then the shadows seemed to coil up, back to Haunter, until the dark shades were mixed together until they formed clouds. The ten clouds made by the mix of shadows circled around Haunter like satelites orbiting around a planet. When one of the dark clouds circling Haunter came near its disembodied hands haunter grabbed it.

The first place Haunter touched the cloud had a white star on it. From that white star pulsed dark color onto the cloud in rhythmic waves. As this happened the shadowy blob became less cloud-like and became a perfect sphere of pulsing dark energy with a white light in the middle.

"Haunt-OR!" Haunter roared and the Shadow Ball was sent flying from his hands at Ponyta.

The sound of the Shadow Ball hitting Ponyta was a loud SHWI! From where it was it on its side there was a huge vortex of darkness that turned that impacted skin into something black. Not black as in burnt, but its skin had dyed black.

"Po-" it cried weakly and then fell down on its stomach, its legs splayed out on the floor.

_No. _I thought as tears streamed from my eyes.

"Huh! Ponyta!" the officer cried.

The officer returned Ponyta to its Pokeball.

_A good choice. _Charlie thought. _A Pokeball helps stabilize the vital conditions of the Pokemon held within it. Even weakened Pokemon are able to stay alive if they're in their Pokeball._

The officer walked towards Miller.

"How dare you-!" the officer started to say.

"Machoke, Focus Blast," Miles calmly said.

Machoke held out his hand and a red beam of energy shot out. The blast went right through the officer. His Pokeball rolled beside him along with the disc of lab information.

"No!" the officer next to him yelled. "You'll pay for that!"

Everyone was silent. Everyone, even Charlie's cadet classmates.

_I would never think even Team Rocket would be _that_ bold. _Charlie thought.

Charlie was crying now at the death of the police man. He hated his Executives even more now than ever.

"Pikachu use Quick Attack!" a police man said.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled.

Pikachu ran at Machoke but Raticate jumped at Pikachu, bit Pikachu's tail until it bled, and threw it into its police man trainer. He was knocked down.

"Tangela!" a police officer yelled. "Go up and use Bullet Seed on Machoke!"

"Tangela!" Tangela cried.

Charlie had to admit, the Pokemon was really fast. It had zoomed right pas Raticate after jumping over him and gotten right behind Machoke.

"Tang!" it cried.

From near its eyes small, kernel shaped seeds, three times as big as a corn kernel, appeared. They were yellowish-green and color and were clustered together like bubbles.

"Tangela!" Tangela cried.

The kernels disappeared into Tangela's body and then in a clustered rapid fire attack shot out Machoke.

"Ma," Machoke bellowed as the seeds bounced harmlessly off his back.

Tangela, very quickly, maneuvered to Machoke's side and face, hitting almost all of its exposed body. Machoke didn't even seemed to mind.

Then Tangela was apparently all out of seeds and Machoke turned towards it.

"Choke," it growled and grinned.

"Machoke kick it into the air!" Miles ordered.

"Choke," it growled.

Machoke's foot hit Tangela skyward.

"Tangela!" Tangela was rocketing skyward until it hit the ceiling.

"Now Machoke! Focus Punch!" Miles ordered.

Machoke put its fist near its forehead and his hand started glowing.

_Why is hand glowing? _Charlie thought to himself. _I mean, how is that possible and what does that mean?_

When Tangela fell back down in front of Machoke, Machoke punched Tangela with his glowing fist. And Tangela didn't fall any lower.

"Huh!" Shane and Charlie gasped.

To their horror Machoke's glowing fist had come out to the other side of Tangela. It had literally passed through his body so that it was stuck on his arm like a vegetable on a shish-kabob. Part of Machoke's arm was covered in a green and yellow liquid that looked like watery blood. Tangela's body immediately went limp.

"OH NO! TANGELA!" Tangela's trainer said.

Machoke threw Tangela down onto the floor. Its eyes were now closed. Machoke's evil grin expanded into a smile.

"You, you monster!" the police officer ran at Machoke.

Machoke kept smiling as the officer punched Machoke in the gut, each punch Charlie knew hurt because the man's fists were turning purple.

"Machoke, make him shut up," Miles said.

Machoke swatted the police officer in the head. When its fist met Miles's face I could here the CRK! of bone breaking. The police officer was slammed into the wall, just below the ceiling, where his body broke through the thick walls and fell outside.

Charlie was speechless. His mind was gone blank from the sheer horror. Why did he have to see that?

"We don't need a few hostages!" Miles said. "We'll take that disc and Aerodactyl by force!"

"Cadets, get rid of the hostages!" Miller said to Charlie and Shane.

Charlie didn't respond. Charlie couldn't respond.

"Go Growlithe!" many of the officers said as they threw out their Pokeballs.

Charlie also heard heard "Come out Kadabra!", "Come out Slowpoke!", "Go Lapras!", as well as threatening to arrest Team Rocket if they would not stand down.

Charlie heard the names of Koffing, Ekans, Arbok, Drowzee, as well as other random Pokemon from the Team Rocket cadets.

"Charlie take cover!" Shane yelled.

Charlie's mind suddenly became rational again and ran under the nearest table he could find with Shane.

"Growlithe no!"

"Growlithe use Flamethrower!"

"Water Gun and then-!"

"Then Poison Sting!"

"Eat my Koffing's Sludge Bomb!"

"Arbok tie Kadabra with Wrap!"

"Oh no!"

"No!"

BOOM!

"Okay who threw the rocks!"

"Cha-baka!"

"Koffing!"

"GROWL!"

"AERO!"

"Kadabra!"

"Ekans!"

"ARCANINE!"

"MACHOKE!"

"Slowpoke."

The room turned into a huge Pokemon stadium full of shots of fire, poison, wind, water, punches, kicks, head butts, tackles, and a bunch of other crazy attacks.

Charlie saw a Growlithe blacken an Arbok's face, a Golbat created gashes in Beedrill's body with an Air Cutter, and Machoke blow up Aerodactyl's Rock Tomb with its Focus Blast.

And just as he layed there like a coward something rolled across the floor that he recognized.

"The disc!" Shane yelled.

Charlie grabbed it like his life depended on it and shoved it in his pocket. Even though Charlie had tears stinging his eyes he ran down the hallway and headed for the door. Shane ran after him.

"Charlie wait!" Shane screamed.

Charlie was a few feet from the door when a Pikachu was thrown an inch from his chest and into the wall. Charlie turned his head to see it was the work of Petrel's Raticate. In Raticate's mouth was the bleeding body of Pikachu's trainer. Raticate spit it out to reveal, just polished by Raticate's saliva, the police man's name tag: Lt. Jacob William Oak.

Charlie thought he was going to be sick as soon as he saw that and Pikachu climbing out of the wall, nothing of its body torn but just such a cute thing hurt so bad it was horrifying.

"Okay Raticate," Petrel said. "I think that's enough playing around. Let the pathetic yellow Pokemon go. Hey,why are the two of you crying?"

Petrel stared at me, waiting for an answer. I couldn't speak, especially after seeing something so awful. Luckily Shane's brain was still working.

"We both just got grazed by a Poisin Sting attack," Shane said.

"I can-" Petrel was saying.

"Oh no we're fine," Shane replied. "Just need to go where it's safe."

And with that we ran out the door, most likely the same door the mother and her son used to escape the lab. Charlie went outside to set his boot into the sand of Cinnabar Island. The sun beat down upon Charlie's back.

"Charlie-" Shane said.

"I hate Team Rocket!" Charlie yelled into the sky. "I hate Team Rocket!"

Charlie brought the disc out of his pocket and threw it against a small stone in the sand. Charlie then slammed his foot against the disc as hard as he could. He lifted up his foot to see that the disc was now in pieces.

Shane came up to Charlie to see what he had done.

"All this crap over a stupid disc!" Charlie said. "All this over a stupid Pokemon that's so valuable because its older than my Grandma! All this death, hostages, and more death because they went to know how to get the strongest Pokemon ever!"

And then Charlie just sat down and cried with his head in his legs.

"I hate Team Rocket to man," Shane said. "You know what? We'll leave this school one day. One day we'll leave, never come back, and be Pokemon Masters. No killing anyone. But before we do we'll hurt Team Rocket just like they hurt us and others."

Charlie wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

Shane put his arm around his little brother.

"We will."


	11. Progress

**Chapter 11: Progress**

"Dr. Fuji!" the female scientist observing the monitors yelled. "Amber and the clones seem to be developing brainwave patterns faster than we thought!"

The doctor walked over to the monitors. It should all of the clones bodily functions from digestive, to circulatory, to brain activity. The brain activity was at a very high level for Amber and the three other clones. The only other clone, who was not showing much brainwave activity at all was Mewtwo. The Pokemon clones were only babies. They looked mature like they could come out at any second but Fuji knew better. They make look fully grown but truly they needed more time in their liquid chambers. But what was astounding were their brainwave capabilities. In such little growth their psychic abilities had already activated.

Dr. Fuji was very proud.

"Oh yes," Fuji said. "The clones are already stronger than ever before."

"Oh really," a voice said.

Fuji and the female scientist whirled around to see their benefactor and employer, Giovanni.

"Just having a looks-see-round," he said slyly. "What is this about them being stronger than they ever have before?"

"All the Pokemon clones' bio-signs are off the chart," Fuji said. "They not only are extremely healthy but extremely powerful. The Pokemon all have powerful life-forces."

Giovanni got very close to Bulbasaurtwo's tube, observed the embryo, and went down the row, looking at the Pokemon.

"Really now," Giovanni said. "How strong?"

"Before even maturing much in their vats they've already produced more powerful bodily powers than most young Pokemon, sir," Fuji said. "They have a unique ability to develop powers stronger than the average Pokemon life-form."

Fuji saw a smile on Giovanni's face. He stared intently at the clones and touched Squirtletwo's glass tube.

"Yes," Giovanni said. "One day they will all be mine. Either I will personally own them or they will be owned by my most trusted members of Team Rocket. Nothing can stand in my way when they come out."

"If you like I could give you weekly reports on the Pokemon's progress," Fuji said.

"I'll think about that John," Giovanni said. "But do you not see. They are the start of an empire, not a mere science experiment. They are the keys to ruling the world and having it in your palm like my own little world. And the new world order will soon be at hand."


	12. Why It Is Wonderful

**Chapter 12: Why It Is Wonderful**

"Can't catch me!" Charmandertwo yelled.

He was in Amber's Remember Place, racing on top of a lumber plank that stretched from the metal skeleton of a building to a high scaling ladder. He was over hundred feet in the air and below them was a place called Saffron City, as told to them by Amber. He was having so much fun running along the boards like this but his friends were far behind him.

"I always wished I could have done this when I saw this place!" Amber cried as she ran to. "I've always imagined doing this in my dreams but knew it was to dangerous to! But good thing I have all the fun here without the danger!"

Charmandertwo agreed. This was fun!

As Charmandertwo ran along the boards a blur of light blue and green rushed by him on another board parallel to his own.

"When did you get here Bulbasaurtwo?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Just now!" he replied, the bright green bulb on his back jumping up and down as he ran.

_That physical exercise has been paying off. _Charmandertwo thought about Bulbasaurtwo.

"Still no difference!" Chamandertwo replied as he ran. "I'm faster!"

"Prove it Char!" Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Charmandertwo quickly gave it more of his energy to run faster and soon got ahead of Bulbasaurtwo.

"Oh no you don't Char!"

Bulbasaurtwo caught up with Charmandetwo and then got right past him.

"Take that!" Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Charmandertwo quickly lunged a good four feet and got right in front of Bulbasaurtwo on his plank.

"No fair!" Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Tell it to my tail flame!" Charmandertwo replied.

Bulbasaurtwo then jumped to the plank Charmandertwo had been running on a second before.

"Ah-hah!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Who's catchin' on?"

"I'm about to catch _up _with you!" Charmandertwo replied.

Charmandertwo lunged to get back in front of Bulbasaurtwo but Bulbasaurtwo obviously anticipated this and jumped back to the opposite plank.

"Ah, a wise guy," Charmandertwo replied.

"Only when your around Char," Bulbasaurtwo replied.

The two kept jumping to the parallel planks, getting right in front of each other, until they jumped to the next plank. They kept doing this until they saw that the had not landed on a scaling ladder but on red carpet.

"Ouch!" Charmandertwo yelped as he fell onto the floor of the huge house headfirst.

"Wah-ah!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled.

Charmandertwo was slammed back onto the floor by Bulbasaurtwo's weight on his back. He sighed deeply as Bulbasaurtwo seemed to comfortably lay on him.

"Hey Bulby?" Charmandertwo said.

"Yep?"

"As much as I like being by lungs being emptied by someone like you, please get off," Charmandertwo replied.

"Dog pile on the losers!" Squirtletwo's voice sounded.

"OUCH!" Charmandertwo replied as he felt more weight pile on him.

"Hey Squirtletwo," Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Hey Bulby," Squirtletwo replied. "Who one the race?"

"I dunno," Bulbasaurtwo said. "But apparently Charmandertwo likes us to stay on him like this."

"Oh really?" Squirtletwo replied.

"Yep, something' 'bout his lungs," Bulbasaurtwo said.

"I was being sarcastic!" Charmandertwo yelled.

"What does that mean?" Squirtletwo asked.

"IT MEANS GET OFF!" Charmandertwo replied. "Read a dictionary every once in a while!"

Bulbasaurtwo shifted his weight from Charmandertwo to the floor, throwing Squirtletwo off his back.

"Where are we anyway?" Bulbasaurtwo asked, Charmandertwo knowing he was ever curious about his surroundings.

"Look!" Squirtletwo pointed her tiny finger forward.

Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo whirled around to see Amber and another human. The human had green eyes, slightly taller than Amber, yellow hair that was very unlike Amber's as it was spiky and large on top as Amber's was long downward, and obviously a male. Amber's hand was in the boy's.

"I guess this is good-bye for today," the yellow haired male human said. "I don't know when we'll be coming back."

"I'll wait for you Shane," Amber said with a smile. "I don't care how long your gone, we'll still have fun when you get back."

_This boy cares for her. _Charmandertwo understood. _For whatever reason he likes Amber a lot. But why?_

Then, in quick surprise, the boy pulls Amber closer and puts his lips on her cheek. Amber's face turned bright red as this happened.

"That's…that's kind of sweet," Charmandertwo said.

"What are they doing?" Bulbasaurtwo asked. "It looks kind of gross. If I didn't know any better I'd say the kid was trying to eat her."

Charmandertwo looked back at his friends to see that while Bulbasaurtwo looked perplexed, Squirtletwo stared steadily at the two of them. Her cheeks were red and she looked a bit embarrassed.

"What's going on?" Charmandertwo asked.

"It's one of Amber's memories," Squirtletwo said. "It was her first kiss with Shane. Amber told me about it."

"What' a kiss?"

"Oh don't you know anything!" Squirtletwo yelled. "When a girl and boy like each other they…well…do stuff like this."

"Why?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Shane get down here!" a voice called. "We gotta go back to Vermillion!"

Shane stopped putting his lips to Amber and ran downstairs.

Then the red floor vanished and so did the yellow haired boy. Instead Amber stood in front of them.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I just thought it would be nice to visit a good memory. I didn't mean to interrupt the race."

"It was okay," Charmandertwo said. "Everyone just sat on me."

"Now what the heck was that?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"I just told you Plant Boy!" Squirtletwo said.

"It's called a kiss," Amber said. "When a boy likes a girl or a girl likes a boy they do that. It's merely a way of showing that they like each other."

"But we like each other," Charmandertwo said. "Why don't you kiss Bulbasaurtwo or I kiss Squirtletwo?"

"Cause first off that would be gross," Squirtletwo said. "Second we like each other as friends and that was a romantic relationship."

"Romantic?" Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Oh…"Squirtletwo sighed, exasperated.

"They'll learn one day," Amber replied with a smile.

"Did you enjoy him liking you?" Charmandertwo asked.

"It was a first time kind of thing so it was a little shocking at first," Amber said. "But it made life more interesting. It made life just a bit more wonderful."

"Really now?" Charmandertwo asked.

Charmandertwo looked down, saddened.

"What's wrong Charmandertwo?" Squirtletwo asked.

"I just don't know," Charmandertwo replied. "Whenever I think about going to the outside of this place, wherever we are. I mean, before Amber showed us her Remember Place all we had was a bunch of darkness. Whenever Amber talks about life I just think about being where she came from."

"Does that make you sad?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Of course it does," Charmandertwo said. "I've never been anywhere except for memories of Amber's life. It means that we must not be really alive."

"Huh!" Bulbasaurtwo and Squirtletwo gasped.

Charmandertwo could feel tears roll down his face.

Amber got on one knee and touched Charmandertwo's head.

"It's okay," Amber said. "You really are alive. Maybe you'll even get a chance to go into the real world one day."

Charmandertwo smiled at that.

"But…but why would I want to?" Charmandertwo said. "I saw what Lt. Surge did to you. It was obviously because of your death I came to be with Squirtletwo and Bulbasaurtwo. Why would I want to be alive for if I have you guys?"

Amber just smiled.

Suddenly the darkness in the room became the red carpet Charmandertwo saw Shane kissing Amber in. But instead of what looked like a living room it was-to Charmandertwo's delight-a huge library.

"Wow!" Charmandertwo yelled. "A room totally filled with books!"

Charmandertwo ran over to the shelves that contained books and climbed on to them. He read every title to the best of his immature literacy ability. Then he saw the book that interested him the most: _The Complete Encyclopedia of Kanto Fire-type Pokemon._

Charmandertwo grabbed the book and threw it down onto the floor. Then he jumped down and opened the book.

"NO!" Charmandertwo cried.

The pages were totally empty. There was nothing but extremely white sheets of blank paper.

"Why are there no words?!" Charmandertwo yelled.

"Because I've never read any of these books," Amber said. "My Dad has them all and I never really cared to read any of them."

"Dang," Charmandertwo replied.

"If you go out into the real world you'll get to have all the books you want," Amber said. "There are so many things in the world that make life worth living that its impossible to say them all."

"Really?" Charmandertwo said.

"There's more than just books," Amber said.

Suddenly the seen changed and they were no longer in Amber's home but in a huge stadium. There were people packed in seats, watching what was going to happen in the middle of where they were. In the center was a huge oval-shaped area was solid ice.

"Now ladies and gentlemen!" a voice called. "Let's get this battle underway! To the right we have Bruce Mason from Cerulean City!"

To the right Charmandertwo saw a young boy with a deep tan, blue eyes, and dark hair.

"To the left we have Nikita Fuller from Fuschia City!" the voice boomed.

The girl to the left was a full grown woman with golden hair and fierce brown eyes.

"Where are we?" Bulbasaurtwo asked. "Where ever it is it sounds exciting." "It's the Pokemon League," Amber said. "It's where Pokemon trainers with the strongest Pokemon get to compete and battle against each other. My parents took me to watch the battles. Its another great thing about life, the competition and rivalry of Pokemon using the forces of nature."

Charmandertwo remembered Amber explaining to them what Pokemon battling was. It was what encouraged Bulbasurtwo to start physically training to get stronger.

"Begin the battle!" the voice boomed and the faces of the two people appeared on a big screen with three green lights under each face.

"Go Electrode!" the boy said, threw a Poke ball (of which Amber had explained to them what its purpose was) and out of it came a Pokemon that was a very large sphere that was white on the top half of its body and red on the bottom half. It had two large eyes on the top half of its body.

"Go Golduck!" the woman yelled and threw her Pokeball. The creature that came out of it was about as tall as a human, with a blue, muscular body, webbed hands and feet with small nails, a red gem in the center of its forehead, and a large yellow beak.

"Golduck," the Pokemon cried.

"That Pokemon is so cool looking!" Squirtletwo cried. "I bet it's a Water-type like me!"

"It is," Amber replied.

"I'm so lucky to be the same type as it!" Squirtletwo yelled. "It's so beautiful and majestic looking! It couldn't get anymore cooler than it already is! I want to be just like it!"

"Electrode use Sonicboom!" the boy yelled.

The ball-like Pokemon's body shook from side-to-side until wave after wave of force came straight towards Golduck. The fierce looking waves of energy didn't seem to phase Golduck at all as it lifted its hand and started walking towards Electrode. Its eyes and gem glowed a light blue color. The waves suddenly took on the blue color of Golduck's eyes and red gem and stopped moving altogether and then disappeared.

"Golduck use Dynamic Punch!" Nikita yelled.

"Gol!"

Golduck ran up at Electrode and started ramming its fist into its opponent.

"Trode!" Electrode cried in pain.

Golduck's punches were so fast Charmandertwo could barely see them moving except in quick blurs of blue. Golduck continued to pummel Electrode's body for a few seconds. When it stopped Electrode was revealed to have dents in its body where Golduck had beaten it. Electrode looked very tired.

"Electrode use Thunder!"

"Golduck back flip away from Electrode!"

Golduck immediately jumped into the air in a back flip until it was back where it had started.

Electrode's body was suddenly covered with purple electricity and then from its body blasted a purple lightning bolt. Charmandertwo could feel the crackle of energy reverberate through the air from the powerful attack that shook the entire stadium.

"Oh no!" Squirtletwo yelled.

"Golduck use Hydro Pump!" Nikita ordered.

Golduck put its hands together and brought them to its right side. Charmandertwo saw water pumped from Golduck's palms into its clasped hands. Then Golduck raised its hands and a blast of water ten feet wide blasted from Golduck's arms. The water was as clear and clean as Charmandertwo had ever seen it came from Golduck's palm and he would always remember it as the cleanest water he had ever seen.

Shockingly the water blasted right through the thunder and hit Electrode.

KA-BOOM!

There was reverberation that you could feel through the ground as the hydro pump hit Electrode. The water blast had torn away all the ice from where Electrode had been and revealed to be plain earth. Electrode sat in a hole about forty feet wide and twenty feet deep. The water had been dispersed across the arena so that Golduck was now standing in two feet of water.

"Ladies and gentlemen Golduck has just defeated Electrode!" the voice yelled.

One of the green bars on the screen above them all disappeared under the face of Bruce. Bruce returned Electrode to its Pokeball after telling it "it had done a good job".

"WOW!" Squirtletwo yelled. "Did you see that?! That was legendary! That was epic! Go Water-Types!"


	13. A Psychic Glimpse

**Chapter 13: A Psychic Glimpse**

**Hey, anyone reading this. I kind of messed up and put an unrevised document as Chapter 5. If any of you were left hanging from Chapter 5 to Chapter 7 or want to read the real Chapter 5 then it should be right there. Trust me, it's a lot better and different than the one you already read.**

Darkness.

That was the first thing he saw when first experienced being awake. He had never before experienced anything, never known anything, but now he was awake.

_What? _he thought. _Who? _

He looked down upon himself for the first time. The six fingers that he saw, three on each palm, had small spherical digits on each one. He looked further down he saw he had something he considered to be very odd, feet. He had two toes with another digit on the side of each foot. He looked behind himself to see he had, to his delight, a thick purple tail.

_Interesting. _He thought to himself as he waved the tail back forth. _But where am I? What is this? Who am I? What am I? Is there anyone else here?_

He looked around. Apparently there was no one else with him.

_No. _He protested within himself. _There must be someone else._

Suddenly he heard voices.

_Doctor Mewtwo is…brainwave patterns activating…_

_Is it near awake…?_

_Research has paid off…_

_World's strongest Pokemon…in our reach…_

_Experiment is success and…_

_No experiment. Start of a new empire._

He feared in his mind the voices he heard. They were so strange and quick, sort of like whispers.

_Who…who are they? _he thought.

He focused and felt them. He did not really see anyone but felt their presence. The presence of many other living things, all of them seeming to take interest in _him_. He knew this because he could feel their emotions, feel the essence of their minds. He knew what they felt mostly. Curiosity that he was now…awake.

Except one. The scariest part was he was the one that was closest to him.

He could feel this other person's energy, his emotions like the rest. With this one it was not curiosity or intrigue but contained thoughts of lust of…power. And it involved him. It involved others to. It involved himself and these others and what he could not find in himself was the ability to confront this fear.

_You'll soon be mine Mewtwo. _

That was the last thing him heard before he shut off his senses. Whatever or whoever these people were they scared him. He recoiled from the scary words of the person nearest to him. Then he willed his mind to shut down and go back to his dormant stage.

But before that one thought entered his mind.

_Whatever I am, I am called Mewtwo, whatever that may be. _He thought. _And whoever was nearest to me seems very terrifying. _


	14. Dream

**Chapter 14: Dream**

Shane stared at the open field. It was full of tall grass and was just outside of Fuchsia City. It was the late afternoon and class school was over for today.

Shane could already see the smooth, bare ground path that lead ahead to who-knows-where. Wherever it lead to, Shane was curious to find out. But he was also curious to about the grass to the side of the path. He wanted to know about what was inside it.

Shane tightened the grip on the Pokeball in his hand that Tommy Ray gave him. He turned the cap on his head backward and made sure the backpack on his back was full of potions. Then he started to enter the grass.

He was two feet away from it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Shane turned to see it was his younger brother, Charlie.

"What do you think your doing?" Charlie asked.

He looked frustrated at Shane.

"Going to go try and catch a Pokemon," Shane replied weakly. "Going to see where this road takes me."

"And then what?" Charlie asked. "Going to go try and fight the Kanto Gym challenge with that one Pokemon? Going to walk down and hope no one robs you? Going to hope a Pokemon in that grass doesn't kill you?"

Shane hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Charlie I-"

"NO! Your not thinking straight! Now head back to the Academy with me now or else!"

"What will you do?"

"I'm trying to prevent something bad from happening to you."

Shane frowned. Instead of arguing with Charlie he just sat on the ground and cried.

"Well what was I supposed to do?!" Shane yelled. "Ever since we had the pleasure of manning a gun at a four year old and his mom it got me hating Team Rocket more than usual! I just wish I could go and become a trainer without waiting on them to give me a Pokemon! I want to go! Mom's gone, Dad's gone, Amber's gone…I feel like my life is nearly over with!"

Shane looked up at Charlie, hoping he would have something nice to say. He didn't and just looked mad.

"Are you coming?" Charlie asked.

"Go on without me," Shane said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "I'll come back but not until I'm done crying."

"Have it your way," Charlie said and walked away.

Shane turned to the grass patch as soon as Charlie was gone. That grass and that road represented his entire anxiety. In the grass was the possibility of catching a Pokemon that he'd always dreamed of catching. The road represented places far beyond anywhere he had ever been, far beyond his imagination. It represented his yearning for something that seemed like adventure but couldn't merely be described as adventure. It had to be described as destiny.

Yes, the yearning for destiny. The destiny to travel, to train Pokemon, and to meet his best friend within those Pokemon. That was what he dreamed of. It was what motivated him to put up with Team Rocket's horrid tasks for him and his brother.

The sunset also helped increase this nostalgia for something he had never seen before. You know how when you look at the sunset, maybe dreaming about a new future or something good will happen? Shane looked down at the road and hoped that it would come one day. That one day he would have that Pokemon he'd always dreamed about. That one day he'd go on that adventure he'd always wanted.

_If only you could see me now Dad. _Shane thought. _Looking at the clouds in the sunset and wishing. You'd know I haven't given up on life yet. Not like anyone else in present situation would. _

Shane looked up at the sky. He stared at it for a minute until he saw a cloud that looked like Amber's face. Shane stared at it, hoping it would magically become Amber when he least expected it. It could have been thought of as salt in an open wound, just when you realize your so hopeless your wishing for things to just magically happen that your reminded of a dead friend.

_A murdered friend. _Shane thought. _Maybe if Amber was still alive, she'd help me with life. I'll find that killer. I'll find them and do what they did to Amber._

Then Shane looked back at the road, the very path which represented his utmost yearning. He realized that he was eager to start on that road more than anything, to go and complete his destiny.

_Like that'll ever happen. _

And that's when he got up and left. The wishing was beautiful with the sunset and all. But wishing wouldn't help. There was nothing to put hope in, nothing to wish life would get better. Nothing but an empty orange sky and a dream.


	15. Calling of the Vine Whip

**Chapter 15: Calling of The Vine Whip**

Bulbasaurtwo watched in horror as the trainer ordered Golduck to use a move that he knew his relative Bulbasaur just couldn't survive.

"Use Ice Beam!" Nikita the trainer yelled.

"Goooolllllll-duck!" Golduck cried.

Suddenly from its glowing red gem shot dozens of comet-like objects of energy towards Bulbasaur. The comet shaped blasts had tails of rushing water and the solid part at the front, surrounded by the rushing water, were solid crystalline objects as white as the ice the Pokemon stood on.

Bulbasaurtwo stared in horror as he knew the inevitable truth that Bulbasaur would at the very least be to tired to fight anymore because of the attack. Bulbasaur stood on the ice, where as the water from Golduck's Hydro Pump was draining into the hole it had made.

"Oh no," Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Go Golduck go!" Squirtletwo yelled.

"Bulbasaur use Vine Whip!" Bruce, the opposing trainer, ordered.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried.

From beneath Bulbasaur's flower bulb, where his spotted blue skin met his dark green plant, came long, two slender vine plants grew. At the end the vines were rounded off by small buds that reminded Bulbasaurtwo of the flower buds on an orchard tree Amber had shown them.

"Bulba!"

Bulbasaur's vines went to work on the Ice Beam attack, lashing against the comet shaped blasts and throwing them into the air and from side to side. Where ever they were slung they created a gush of water that immediately froze.

"Folks that's an incredible display of botanical power that Bruce's Bulbasaur is putting on!" the voice that announced everything obvious said.

Golduck kept firing the Ice Beams without end but Bulbasaur didn't seem to mind. It looked like it could do that all day long, slinging the ice and water attacks away effortlessly.

_Wow. _Bulbasaurtwo's only thought was. _That's some power. I wish I could do that._

Then Bulbasaurtwo _really _started thinking.

_Wait! _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _I can do that! We're the same kind of creature! Aren't we?_

Bulbasaurtwo looked down at himself. Bulbasaurtwo _saw_ the only difference was the stripes on his body and the coloration of his body and flower bulb but deep down he knew there was a deeper difference. A greater reason he was called Bulbasaur_two_. He did not know what the great reason/difference was but he knew of its existence. Did that still mean he could use this beautiful, epic power called Vine Whip?

_I'll try. _

The vines gracefully knocked the Ice Beam attacks aside until Golduck no longer could fire them anymore. Bulbasaur merely grinned at Golduck as Golduck gave it a frustrated glare.

"Golduck use Hydro Pump!" Nikita cried.

"Goooool," Golduck said as it put its palms together.

Clear, white water started pumping into Golduck's hands.

_Now he's really dead. _Bulbasaurtwo thought.

"DUCK!" Golduck yelled and launched its water blast that was at least three times as wide as Amber was tall.

Just as it was within seconds of hitting Bulbasaur, Bulbasaurtwo's relative pierced the ice beneath him with his vines and shot himself into the air. The Hydro Pump blasted a hole where Bulbasaur once stood, this one even larger than the one it made when it attacked Electrode.

"Cool!" Bulbasaurtwo screamed.

"Now whip it Bulbasaur!" Bruce screamed.

"Bulba-SAUR!"

Bulbasaur jumped using its vines and landed right in front of Golduck.

"Dynamic Punch!" Nikitia ordered.

"Golduck!" it cried and attempted to throttle Bulbasaur with its fists.

Instead Bulbasaur's vines blocked Golduck's punches, removed Golduck's fists off of its vines, and whipped across Golduck's chest.

"Duck!" it cried in pain.

Watching closely I saw what happened in fine detail. When the vine struck Golduck it seemed that the water on the surface of Golduck's body was absorbed into the vine, leaving a red scar on its chest.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried as the other vine wrapped around Golduck's body (absorbed more water from Golduck's body), picked it up, and tossed it.

"GOOOOOOOOLD!" it cried as it sailed through the air.

It finally skidded across the slippery and laid still.

"Nikita's Golduck has been defeated by Bruce's Bulbasaur!" the voice said.

Bulbasaurtwo was astounded, unable to speak. He had just witnessed the most awesome thing he had ever seen. It reminded him he had a heritage, a family, somewhere far, far away.

"Can we go back now?" Squirtletwo said. "I'm sad already."

"Would anyone else like to?" Amber asked.

"Sure," Charmandertwo said. "I'd like to go revisit the summer day."

"What about you Bulbasaurtwo?" Amber asked.

Bulbasaurtwo was regained his composure after Amber asked him what he wanted to do but still astounded.

"Sure!" Bulbasaurtwo said, already knowing what he had to do.

Amber nodded. Suddenly the scene of the stadium and the ice arena slowly vanished from Bulbasaurtwo's sight. For a moment they were in the darkness with no scenery.

"So where do you guys want to go?" Amber asked.

"Somewhere hot," Charmandertwo said. "So I can relax."

"The beach outside of that place called Cinnabar Island," Squirtletwo said. "Some swimming sounds real nice."

"You mean the place where _water _goes on without end?" Charmandertwo said. "No way!"

"And why not, Mr. Rejected Flame Retardant?" Squirtletwo asked.

As they argued, Bulbasaurtwo stared off into space, daydreaming about _himself _using that awesome vine attack.

_I would be so cool. _Bulbasaurtwo said. _I'd be epic._

"I told you I never wanted to be called that again!" Charmandertwo said.

"Guys come on-" Amber said.

"Oh your so whiney sometimes!" Squirtletwo said. "Grow up!"

_I love those vines and- _Bulbasaurtwo thought.

"Well you can be really mean sometimes!" Charmandertwo said. "Remember when you sprayed me with lemonade?!"

_His voice interrupted my thinking. _

"Are you bringing that up again?!" Squirtletwo said.

_For a girl she's loud._

"I sure am!" Charmandertwo replied. "It was very mean and un-lady-like!"

_That was harsh. But what does that even mean?_

"You've been reading the dictionary too much!" Squirtletwo said. "Just 'cause I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm supposed to be lady like!"

_Enough._

"BULBASAUR!" Bulbasaurtwo roared.

All eyes were on Bulbasaurtwo.

"Why are you two arguing?!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Shut up already!"

"But she-" Charmandertwo started.

"SAUR!" he roared again.

They were silent.

"Why don't we go to the river outside Cerulean City?!" Bulbasaurtwo growled. "That away Squirtletwo can swim and Charmandertwo is there on a day of fair heat! Solution solved!"

"Okay," Amber squeaked.

The darkness changed to where we were standing in a grassy area where there was a large body of water with a slow current. Parallel to us was a strong built, wooden bridge.

"Say your sorry you two," Amber said to Squirtletwo and Charmandertwo.

They both looked down sheepishly.

"Sorry," Squirtletwo and Charmandertwo said together.

"Water here I come!" Squirtletwo yelled as she jumped ran towards the river.

Charmandertwo ran down the dirt pathway to play and go explore.

Amber looked down at Bulbasaurtwo.

"What are you going to do Bulbasaurtwo?" Amber asked.

Instead of tell her, Bulbasaurtwo simply created the desire within himself to tell her. Just as when they first met, images and emotions just as Bulbasaurtwo perceived them flooded Amber's mind. She understood.

"Okay," Amber said. "Go have fun but don't hurt yourself. I'll be swimming with Squirtletwo."

"I won't," Bulbasaurtwo replied and ran off into the grass.

_I'll try as hard as I can. _He thought.

Bulbasaurtwo stopped as soon as he saw a young tree with small blue fruit already growing on it that restored health immediately when eaten. It was beside the rock wall of a cave tunnel that was as tall as a sheer rock cliff.

Amber had never told them this but after growing very tired one day after a long training period Bulbasaurtwo grew hungry and ate of one. When he did his health from all the training he had done was totally gone. Plus there was water if he was thirsty so this was a nice area to train.

"Saur," Bulbasaurtwo said.

He rammed his body against the stone wall! Not merely his head but his entire body he put full force into slamming against the rock! The rock had actually started cracking as he straight forward rammed into it, slammed the side of his flower bulb into it with the rest of his body, or jump up and tackle it head on.

"Sooooooooooooooooorrrr," Bulbasaurtwo cried in so much pain that he could barely move his leg and chest muscles.

_I'm…getting stronger. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _Gotta keep going._

Bulbasaurtwo limped over to the tree and gently head butted it. From the tree fell six of the blue berries. Bulbasaurtwo ate four of them. His wounds immediately felt better as his energy started returning to him. Bulbasaurtwo ate the other two berries and his stomach was satisfied. It may have seemed like a waist of time but he knew that by challenging himself he could do more the next time. After each training session he could feel himself getting stronger.

Bulbasaurtwo got right back up and did one hundred jumps into the air. He stopped after seventy-five because it only made him hungrier and got to eat four more berries. Bulbasaurtwo then completed the remaining twenty-five after his snack brake and went to rest some more. Bulbasaurtwo then ran around an imaginary perimeter fifteen times and ate two more berries and got a huge gulp of water. After that he let the water in his stomach settle until he could regain his focus.

The repeated physical exercise combined with food, rest, and water was very beneficial to his strength. He was getting stronger, faster, and able to focus more of his strength into short bursts of power, each day. But Bulbasaurtwo realized something.

_My physical power may be increasing. _He thought. _But the botanical power of my body I haven't directly been working on. That's what it will take to learn, use, and master that Vine Whip attack that Bulbasaur did._

Bulbasaurtwo walked over to the empty grass meadow and focused. The grass where he stood was very short, he was calm, and there was absolute silence except for the cooling breeze.

Bulbasaurtwo closed his eyes and focused.

Bulbasaurtwo had often practiced by focusing his physical energy into short, sharp bursts of power that often could break through boulders and thick trees. Now he had to focus and send power from his body to his plant bulb.

As Bulbasaurtwo cleared his mind of all thoughts not important to what he was directly doing he could sense the breathing that his flower bulb did. He could feel it absorbing the light of the sun and the very energy of the light flow throughout his entire body. He could feel his connection to the grass as he was also a plant.

When he felt he was connected with his botanical power enough he sent all power to his flower bulb, just as he would send all power to a forward tackle but this time it was to grow. Bulbasaurtwo kept surging his power to his plant and suddenly he felt something seeming to erupt from his bulb.

_Yes. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _Yes. It's happening. Vine Whip at last!_

But instead of coming out of the sides of his bulb it was coming from the top.

_The vines are coming out from the crown of my bulb? _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _Weird._

Bulbasaurtwo walked over to the object to find it was an oval shaped, yellow seed. It had opened up and started growing…stems. At first they were constricted looking but as they uncurled they grew into vine like structures and started growing foliage on each side that looked like fern plants. As the fern plants got bigger and taller Bulbasaurtwo could feel something.

_I'm gaining more power. _Bulbasaurtwo thought.

He could feel himself getting more energy added unto him, increasing his power. The grass it was growing over seemed to die, the ferns sapping away their health.

_STOP! _Bulbasaurtwo mentally commanded when he saw this.

The fern stopped growing, and the grass stopped becoming yellow.

_This could be a powerful attack if used correctly. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _But attacks with more direct damage will prove to be stronger._

Bulbasaurtwo turned away, thinking he had failed. He had done all he could do bring out all his botanical power and he got a parasitic fern. The joys.

Bulbasaurtwo walked away wondering what he would do next to increase his botanical power.

He met up with Squirtletwo and Amber and they were happy to let him swim with them. Bulbasaurtwo could swim, maybe not as well as Squirtletwo, but could still move in the water. Squirtletwo kept jumping out and tried to play with him but he just wasn't in the mood.

He had tried to use the incredible move Vine Whip and ended up with nothing more than another growing plant, like himself. Bulbasaurtwo stared off into the sky, wondering if he would ever achieve such great botanical power as his ancestors and relatives had.

Bulbasaurtwo felt sort of sick at the thought of never being as good as his fellow Bulbasaurs but when Charmandertwo got back he, Amber, and Squirtletwo cheered him up with a good game of tag.

_You'll be mine one day Vine Whip. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _Just a little more training and I'll have you some day._


	16. The New Guy

**Chapter 16: The New Guy**

"Squirtletwo stop!" Amber teased Squirtletwo.

She had grabbed onto Amber's long blue hair like a rope and started swinging from side to side.

"But its so fun!" Amber heard Squirtletwo reply. "I wish you could try this!"

"Don't give me any ideas," Amber replied slyly. "Mischief little you."

Amber stood in a dense forest, the Berry Forest to be exact, in her Remember Place. Surrounding them was what Amber could best describe as being "an orchard rainforest". It was a huge jungle but every tree was filled with colorful, plump fruits. They had come here on a request from Bulbasaurtwo, a place with "lots of food and plenty of fun". He had gone off with Charmandertwo, deep into the forest.

"This place is so beautiful," Squirtletwo said as she swung on Amber's hair. "I wish I could live here."

"Maybe one day you'll have that choice," Amber said. "I came here with my friend Melody once."

"Oh yeah," Squirtletwo said. "You told me about her. What was she like?"

"She was always happy and was really funny," Amber said. "I wish that I could see her again almost every day."

"That good of a friend, huh?" Squirtletwo said. "Why can't you just put her in one of your Remember Places?"

Amber sighed. Ever since she had been able to have her Remember Place, a little time before she met her Pokemon friends with strange markings, she had tried to bring people to the places as well. Amber had failed every time. To her it didn't make sense why she couldn't but it just was.

"I can't Squirtletwo," Amber said. "I've tried and failed."

"I'm sorry about that," Squirtletwo replied. "At least you have us and…whoever else is supposed to come. The fourth strongest Pokemon in the world."

"Yeah," Amber said.

Amber laid down on the forest floor, Squirtletwo jumping off her hair as she did.

"You know, this is where I first met Shane and Charlie," Amber said.

"Wasn't Shane the boy who kissed you?" Squirtletwo said.

"Yeah," Amber replied. "They were orphaned brothers. He had the kindest heart. Shane always tried to be nice in every way he could. Charlie was super smart. He never had any schooling but if you asked him a question about anything he usually knew the answer. In times of unlikely uncertainty of the answer he would simply suggest something just as likely."

"Charlie reminds me of Charmandertwo," Squirtletwo thought. "You know how he wants to know everything, it reminds me of Charlie."

Amber smiled.

"Fire-type Pokemon are the best type!" Charlie said. "They always have awesome power and super effect so many types!"

She remembered how he always bragged about Fire-types, the Pokemon type that he loved so dearly, and wanted one so badly. Shane, on the other hand, loved Grass-type Pokemon more than his own life. This always led them to argument over which Pokemon were better, with Charlie always winning because of his greater knowledge than Shane.

_Maybe Charlie and Charmandertwo would be a great pair. _Amber thought.

"Bonsia!"

The voice came from somewhere in the trees. Squirtletwo and I turned around to see Charmandertwo and Bulbasaurtwo wrapped around a swinging vine. As soon as they neared they let go and jumped on Squirtletwo!

They skidded to the ground, piled on top of her.

"Thanks guys," Squirtletwo said sarcastically.

"What's that?" Charmandertwo asked. "I think she likes us laying on top of her."

"Oh I agree," Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Oh very funny Plant Boy and…and…darn you Charmandertwo!" Squirtletwo said. "I can't think of a good comeback name!"

"Want us to lay here until you do?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Charmandertwo!" Amber squealed.

"Fine, fine, fine," he replied.

"Aaaahhhh," Bulbasaurtwo moaned.

At Amber's command they climbed off.

"Do you guys not like Squirtletwo or something?" Amber asked.

"No," the Pokemon replied.

"We just like playing with her," Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Yeah," Charmandertwo said.

"Than why do you act like that?" Amber asked.

The both of them looked down sheepishly.

_Now I know how my mom feels. _Amber thought.

"Yeah, why?" Squirtletwo asked with her hands on her hips.

"Because you do mean stuff to us," Charmandertwo replied accusingly.

"And you're a girl," Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"I can't help that!" Squirtletwo said.

"Guys come on now," Amber said and knelt down beside them.

Amber placed one hand on Squirtletwo and Charmandertwo.

"You don't need to get even with each other," Amber said. "Just forget about it. Life is too wonderful to just hold grudges."

"Why not?" Bulbasaurtwo said. "I just found out it was fun."

"Because when someone treats you wrongly and you become bitter it only hurts both yourself and others," Amber said. "It worsens until you hate the entire world for nothing anyone ever did to you."

"And how exactly does that happen?" Squirtletwo asked.

"Sounds unlikely," Charmandertwo replied.

"Its when you don't think of anyone as a friend and think of them as an enemy," Amber said. "My mom and dad have told me about things like that that have happened before. I always took it to just let grudges go."

The Pokemon looked up at each other apologized to one another.

"So how'd the battling go?" Amber asked Bulbasaurtwo and Charmandertwo.

"It went pretty well," Charmandertwo replied. "Who knew I could breath fire? And my hands are kind of sharp too!"

"So it was fun, right Bulbasaurtwo?" Amber asked him.

Bulbasaurtwo looked down. Apparently he felt sort of ashamed.

"What happened?" Amber asked Charmandertwo.

"I don't know," Charmandertwo asked. "I could barely do any damage to him as much as he had already been training."

Amber smiled at Bulbasuartwo.

"Then what's wrong Bulby?" Amber asked. "Did you get hurt or something?"

"I…I couldn't learn Vine Whip," Bulbasaurtwo said. "I can tackle and use that parasite plant attack-"

"Leech Seed," Amber reminded Bulbasaurtwo.

"I could use Tackle and Leech Seed but no Vine Whip," he replied and sat down on the forest floor. "I had hoped putting real effort in Charmandertwo and mine's battle would trigger it. Maybe I'm just incapable of learning it."

Amber put her hand on Bulbasaurtwo's head.

"Don't worry Bulby," Amber said. "You know, Pokemon that grow slower in life usually have more power later on. The fact that you learned Leech Seed with training and the fact that Vine Whip will come later, it only means your going to be pretty powerful."

Bulbasaurtwo's head still hung low. Amber could tell her words had helped but Bulbasaurtwo still had doubts about himself. When Amber first told them about Pokemon battling, he was the one who fell in love with the idea and started training as soon possible. Then when he saw the battle between Bulbasaur his relative and Golduck he became infatuated with the move Vine Whip.

_Don't worry. _Amber thought. _I believe you'll be a great and powerful Pokemon. I really do._

Amber smiled until…she felt something.

Amber had always wondered how she was able to make her Remember Places, how she had the ability to talk to her Pokemon friends when she was once alone, and how she was still alive, sort of. But to her, the answer to all of those questions seemed to be the same, even though she didn't know what it was. She had the ability to sort of sense the presence of Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo, and Charmandertwo, which like all the other mysteries, she still couldn't explain.

Now she could feel the presence of someone. Amber couldn't "feel" any details about that someone but she knew that it wasn't human and definitely wasn't in her Remember Place.

"Do any of you feel that?" Amber asked the other Pokemon.

They nodded together.

"Is…is it a Pokemon?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"It definitely is," Squirtletwo said. "Can you feel its life-force? Its so strong. It also seems to have a strange power that I can't really describe."

"How do you know all that?" Amber asked.

"Can't you guys sense it?" Squirtletwo asked.

"No," she, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo replied.

_She must have sharper telepathic powers than all of us. _Amber thought.

"It's just as I thought," Charmandertwo said. "It's the fourth strongest Pokemon Surge was talking about."

"It sure does seem like it," Amber said.

"Let's go!" Bulbasaurtwo said, Amber could tell he was barely able to contain his excitement. "He may be fun and tell really cool jokes! He may even be a cool battle buddy! I wanna meet him! I wanna meet him!"

"Um…don't you think we should be cautious?" Charmandertwo asked. "I mean…we don't even know who this guy is!"

"Oh relax," Squirtletwo said. "I bet he'll be okay. I wonder if it'll be a she though."

"I'll go and greet the new Pokemon," Amber decided. "You guys follow my lead and introduce yourselves when I tell you to. We don't want to scare it."

"What do we do when we see him?" Squirtletwo asked.

"How about we do a ring-around-the-rosies-thing?" Bulbasaurtwo asked. "I always liked that game!"

"Okay," Amber said. "You guys just stay back and I'll go and greet him."

"Fine," Charmandertwo said. "But just be careful. Like Surge said, we may be the most powerful Pokemon and we don't want to startle him."

_He's got a point. _Amber thought.

Then Amber focused and sensed where the new Pokemon was. Then she vanished in front of the Pokemon and appeared in front of her new friend.


	17. Enter: The DNA Pokemon!

**Chapter 17: Enter: The DNA Pokemon!**

"How much longer Fuji?" Giovanni asked over the phone. "How much longer till the clones are ready?"

"I am not sure sir," Fuji replied. "The clones are physiologically extremely developed but little have they been given enough nutrients to survive on their own. It will take a matter of years sir. Be patient."

"I have patience to last decades Fuji," Giovanni said. "I just wanted a quick report. That's all. Goodbye doctor."

Giovanni hung up.

He looked at a picture on his desk in the office he stood in. In it he saw the love of his life: Delia. Her hair couldn't possibly have looked better, blown in the wind on the summer day than it had, forever captured in the frame. Giovanni stood beside her, their baby boy in Delia's arms.

_How dare she quit on me because I would rule the world. _He thought. _What's wrong with a husband who ruled the world._

There was more reason than getting the fossil information that Giovanni had ordered Miles to get into the Cinnabar Laboratory. Delia got married to a scientist after he wouldn't give up Team Rocket for their love. Giovanni sent Miles their in hope her new husband would be killed, and it worked to.

Giovanni smiled.

_With these clones Delia I'll never leave you alone again. I'll take over the world and then you'll be my queen with Ash as predecessor of the Team Rocket empire._

"You miss her don't you?" a voice behind Giovanni called.

"Who said that?" Giovanni called.

He whirled around to find no one. He put the picture down and grabbed two Pokeballs from his waist.

"Go!"

He opened the Pokeballs and from the streams of white light came Persian, the pale, mischievous looking cat with a gold charm on its head and Rhydon, the gray, giant brute that had a horn for a nose, thick arms and legs and stone material for armor.

"Where are you?" Giovanni called.

"Funny," the same voice called. "You told me you said that to Delia on your eleventh date. You always liked surprises. Delia was so innocent and yet you couldn't contain that innocence, that pure joy, as you were an ambitious emperor looking to conquer the world.

"You can read minds, I'll give you that," Giovanni said. "Are you a Psychic-type _Pokemon_ by any chance? I simply don't recall to mind at the moment a Psychic-type able to slip under the shadows like a thief."

"You guessed me," the voice said. "I am a Psychic-type Pokemon. I am hiding right now, under the shadows like a thief. But the reason you can't think of a Pokemon like me is because I am of the likes of which you have never seen. I am the strongest Pokemon in the world."

Suddenly, from a shadow in the corner came the red and blue, ovular head. It had two white eyes with black irises, like a human, that showed absolutely no emotion. On the sides of its head were flat wing like projections. It had a purple slit that ran in between its eyes.

It turned towards Giovanni.

It crawled out of the darkness like a ghoul, perfectly evil looking.

Its entire body was red and blue. Its legs ended in spikes. Its arms were thick with five fingers like a human. In the center of its stomach was a purple gem tha shape of a circle. It stood so tall that he had to bend over to accommodate himself to the ten foot ceiling.

This Pokemon did not strike Giovanni as dangerous except its eyes. Its eyes were the most malicious thing he had ever seen. They made the rest of his body seem dangerous and powerful. The made a sense of fear come over him as he stared into the creature's features.

"I. AM. **DEOXYS.**" The strange Pokemon said.

"Persian use Slash!" Giovanni ordered. "Rhydon attack with Rock Blast!"

"Perrrrrrs!"

Persian jumped at the Pokemon, his claws extended.

"Rhy!"

Rhydon pounded its palms together and in seconds he had boulders forming that were already as big as Giovanni's head.

"Sian!" the cat Pokemon cried in pain.

Persian floated there like it was suspended by an invisible force. Suddenly it began to glow purple, just like Deoxys eyes were glowing. It was thrown into the opposite wall and slumped to the floor.

"Rhydon!" he yelled and threw three boulders at Deoxys.

Deoxys's arms thrashed through the rocks like a wrecking ball through styrfoam at the speed of lightning. With the stroke of his finger Rhydon was telekinetically slammed into the wall.

"How…," Giovanni stuttered.

"Defeat Pokemon trained to peak physical condition?" Deoxys asked. "Put those weaklings up before I stop being nice and really kill them."

Rhyhorn and Persian got back up again to fight their enemy.

_I'm surprised they can get back up. _Giovanni thought. _Deoxys must really know how to control his power, like just pushing Pokemon away instead outright killing them. That is a dangerous ability._

"Return you two," Giovanni ordered and pressed the button on their respective Pokeballs.

The red beams of energy returned them to their Pokeballs, allowing Giovanni to put them back around his waist.

"What do you want?" Giovanni asked. "You can read minds, every Psychic-type can do that to some degree. I'm honestly more surprised you had such great physical strength. Almost non-existant for someone of your type. Have you ever been under the command of a Pokemon trainer?"

"No," Deoxys said. "I have never been in need of one. Now I do. That is why I come to you."

"Really?" Giovanni asked. "Do you mind us talking about this somewhere more private? You also might need more room. Maybe the park in this town?"

"Thank you," Deoxys said.

He put his large hand on Giovanni and suddenly he was no longer in his office with Deoxys but they were both in the Viridian City greenery gardens. It was closed during late hours like these so no one would interrupt them.

"So what exactly do you need?" Giovanni asked.

"I want to rewrite the world," Deoxys said. "I've seen Earth and…well…I'm not impressed. You see I want the Earth all to myself but I also want to recreate it. When I first came down to Earth I was not able to do anything. All I could do was watch other humans play with their Pokemon. They cared nothing for me except to study and attack me. So now I have no home. Nothing but empty devoid space to inhabit. But that's all about to change. I'm going to declare myself as the ruler of Earth and then change it in everyway I please."

"Then why not?" Giovanni asked. "What do you need my help for?"

"I traveled from the future to come get stronger of course," Deoxys said. "In the future I was stopped because I was so much weaker than all the other Pokemon. I have offense stronger than most Pokemon with just as much speed but I have no defense. Practically any hit I take will kill me."

"That is quite the problem," Giovanni said.

"I tried taking over the world but I just couldn't," Deoxys said. "The legendary Rayquaza nearly killed me. Even farther into the future I tried once again but Mewtwo nearly destroyed me."

Giovanni's interest suddenly peaked.

"My super clone?" he asked.

"Yes," Deoxys said. "But when Mewtwo awakens you will order it to train me. After that I will become the strongest Pokemon in the world from fighting such a powerful Pokemon."

"But Mewtwo will be just as powerful," Giovanni said. "How can you say you will be the most powerful Pokemon?"

Deoxys began to stare again at Giovanni intently.

"My transformations," he said.

Suddenly Deoxys began to change right before Giovanni's eyes.

Both of his arms became two whip-like tentacles, one red and the other blue. Its legs became sharper points and it grew a spike on each knee. The purple gem in the center of its body moved to a higher part of its chest and its chest was now adorned with a layer of black skin. Its head grew a spike on top of its head and one on each side of its head.

"This is one of my transformations where my offense power increases to an even more powerful level," Deoxys said.

"You can transform to gain even more power," Giovanni said. "Impressive."

"But I lose almost all of my speed," Deoxys said. "I'm extremely slow and my defense is even less than my normal form."

"Really?" Giovanni said, very intrigued now.

"This next form of mine has so much defense, its nearly impossible to break through," Deoxys said.

Its transformation began with its head melted into its body, becoming more of a mound with eyes than a head. Its legs thickened and there appeared two blue sphere gems on its knees. The two tentacles where arms were on a human became less whip-like and very flat. This body was by far thicker and bulkier than the other two forms Giovanni had seen.

"My defense in this form is surpassed by none," Deoxys said. "But I have so low power and speed I can hardly fight. Not only that but strong Pokemon like Rayquaza, Mewtwo, and other Pokemon with off-the-charts-power can kill me by hitting me enough times. Those Pokemon's power surpass even the power of my defense."

"So each of your forms leads to extreme power in one major area but destroys your other areas?" Giovanni asked. "How sad."

"I have only one more form but it only increases my speed. It is my last transformation."

Its head began to form one long horn at the back of its head, maybe two to three feet long. On the sides of its head it began to have what looked like eye-shaped spikes reminding Giovanni of pointed ears. Its head kept the red and blue coloration, as did two rings around the beginning of its legs. Where arms were on a human was a blue tentacle on the right and a red tentacle on the left. The rest of its body was black except for the gem in the middle of its chest.

"My offense and defense are fair in this form but no near as good as my other forms," Deoxys said.

Deoxys changed back to the form that Giovanni first saw Deoxys in, having a red and blue body with two wing like structures on the side of its head.

"But apparently none of this can defeat Mewtwo and other legendary Pokemon," Giovanni said. "How do you expect to defeat them with my training?"

"If I have enough training I can increase the power of each of my forms," Deoxys said. "And then, I will be so strong, I can combine all of my forms into one ultimate transformation, with each of my tranformations' strongest abilities in each one. In that form no one can be able to stop me. Sparring with Mewtwo will be enough."

"And why should I spend my time doing this?" Giovanni asked. "Why should I use my valuable trying to accomplish an ultimate goal that may not even work?"

"Because with me we will destroy any and all opposition," Deoxys said. "I will push myself and Mewtwo to our very limits and you will have two unstoppable warriors! But I will be ever the more unstoppable because I will combine every single form into one! And then once I do you may spread your empire as far as you like and I will make the world however I please as your co-ruler!"

"Co-ruler?" Giovanni asked. "Why not just get rid of me once you have all this power?"

"I have no reason to get rid of you!" Deoxys said. "It will be a mutual cooperation! Once I get all the power I need we will operate together and not even think about getting in each others way but how we help each other!"

Deoxys put out its hand.

"Do we have a deal?"

Giovanni thought about it for awhile.

"Deal."

He took his hand in his and shook.


	18. The New Guy (Again)

**Chapter 18: The New Guy **

Mewtwo, for the second time in his life, senses others around him. He could feel the energy of others.

"I sense others near me…what are those strange sounds they make?" he said.

Suddenly a light appeared next to him. It was red and yellow in color and condensed. It suddenly became a pretty female with blue hair but was greenish in the dark, a white dress, blue eyes, and a lovely smile.

"Those are words!" the female said. "They're talking!"

"What are you?" Mewtwo asked.

"What do you mean?" the female asked. "I'm a girl! A person!"

Mewtwo was shocked at seeing the first person ever. He could feel her energy and it was strong.

"Pokemon?" Mewtwo asked. "Person? What are those? Which one am I?"

The girl's smile merely got bigger.

"Maybe it makes a difference to you whether you're a Pokemon or a person, but not to me," Amber said. "If you're in this place, I guess you must be the same as all of us are."

Suddenly, what surrounded him was an orange lizard, with dark stripes along its body, with a flame on its tail, a blue turtle with a glossy brown and yellow shell, a curly tail, and stripes and circles on its shell, and a sky blue reptile with olive green markings and a beautifully colored, mint green flower bulb on its back.

"Saur!" the plant creature went.

"Char!" the flame creature went.

"Squirtle!" the shelled Pokemon went.

They all spun in a circle with him in it.

"Everybody is a copy here," the girl said. "That's why there's a two after all our names."

"I don't understand," Mewtwo said.

"They call me Ambertwo but I'm still really Amber," the girl named Amber said.

The Pokemon all cried out again but this time the fiery one sneezed fire.

_That's kind of cool. _Mewtwo thought about him being able to breath fire.

"But I still don't undestand," Mewtwo asked. "A copy of what?"

Suddenly Mewtwo could feel Amber's mind pushing into his. He suddenly saw creatures exactly like the ones around him but without stripes. He also heard a distant voice say "Soon we will have the four strongest Pokemon in the world!" and showed the creatures around him: Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo, and Bulbasaurtwo.

"So what are you?" Amber asked. "Have you heard your name called in a whisper?"

"Yes," Mewtwo said.

"What is it?" Bulbasaurtwo, the plant one, said.

"I am Mewtwo," he said.

"That's my daddy's favorite Pokemon!" Amber said. "You must be the copy of a Mew! No wonder your so adorable!"

She gave him the quick him image of a Mew: pink, small, long tailed, extremely rare, and having "psychic powers."

"You look cute," Squirtletwo said as she circled with him.

_Strange. _Mewtwo thought. _Amber made it seem like I was the only Pokemon that she knew could talk._

"Um…thank you," Mewtwo said as his cheeks grew kind of hot.

"So polite," Squirtletwo replied. "What's fun to you?"

"Um…" Mewtwo said. "I don't know."

"Your making him feel embarrassed Squirtletwo," Charmandertwo said. "The pleasure is all ours to meet you."

"Yeah!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Your with us and that's all that counts! By the way can you use Hyper Beam? I've always wanted to see that move."

"Um…what's Hyper Beam?" Mewtwo asked.

Squirtletwo came over and bonked Bulbasaurtwo on the head with a resounding "Ow!" coming from him.

"Don't be rude!" Squirtletwo said.

"Hyper Beam…" Bulbasaurtwo said mournfully.

_He's kind of funny. _Mewtwo thought. _Silly but funny._

"Well," Amber said. "Who wants to see something cool?"

"We do!" Charmandertwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Squirtletwo said.

"What's that?" a male scientist said.

"I'm not sure," a female scientist said. "But it could be Mewtwo seems to be communicating with the other clones."

"But how?" another scientist asked.

"I'm not sure," she said. "But it could be telepathy."

Dr. Fuji heard all of this as he watched the glowing light in Ambertwo's glass. It shined red and yellow, powered by her mind within her body in a lower room.

"So," he said. "Please, please let my theories be true. I must see my little girl smile again."

Fuji had gotten used to calling her Ambertwo like all the other scientists did. He accepted her body was a copy but her mind was still the same seven year old mind set it had been when she was murdered.

Fuji then retired to his private quarters where no other scientist came. It was where he came to rest at times. After months of research into the daily job of making sure the clones survived he often felt stressed and retired to this.

It had another glass vile that showed Amber's glowing energy that was hooked up to a computer that would show what was happening with her. He could not, however, read her thoughts and could not project the image until a few days ago. The fact he could transfer her consciousness to different storage containers was a good sign she was getting stronger.

Right now she was with the other clones, talking to them and telling them about what their names were.

_The little monsters. _Fuji said with great distaste. _I love to see my daughter happy but I hate to see her with those little beasts. Those are no regular Pokemon but super clones that were meant as unstoppable one-Pokemon armies_. _No matter how fascinating_ _they are, they're dangerous beyond belief and are putting a bad influence on my little girl._

"Dear," he heard.

He whirled around to see it was his wife Mildred. He was excited to tell her the news of how strong Ambertwo was getting.

"I've reawakened her consciousness in here," Dr. Fuji said. "Here, in this chamber! I just need to keep her viable long enough to complete the processs!"

"Why are you doing this?!" Mildred shouted. "You can't bring Amber back!"

The doctor was a little shocked. This was the first time Mildred boldly said she hated what he was doing.

"You're wrong!" Dr. Fuji said. "She lives within this light! Her energy is undeniable! If my cloning theories are correct, we'll have Amber back with us one day soon!"

"I loved our daughter as much as you did," Mildred said. "But she's gone. No one can bring her back. And I can't go on watching you try. I'm sorry. Goodbye."

Dr. Fuji saw the note she wrote to him on the counter. She left her wedding ring and house key there. The doctor cried when he realized she was not coming back.

"This is so beautiful," Mewtwo said.

Amber was on Mewtwo's right, standing on a rock the jutted out of the surface of the water. Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo, and Charmandertwo were levitating with him above the river's surface. They all watched as the water tumbled down from its position on the once-flat-land and down the cliff below. The waterfall was hundreds of feet long and about thirty feet wide.

Mewtwo had never before seen such majesty. It was so incredible, having the ability to see such amazing things. Amber, Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo, and Charmandertwo showed him great kindness as soon as they met him. As soon as they did Amber decided to show Mewtwo one of her favorite scenes, the waterfall.

"Wow, Amber," Mewtwo said and turned toward her. "In your life on the outside you got to see this?"

"I sure did," Amber said. "I don't know why but it makes me feel so alive standing here and able to see the rushing water."

"I feel the same way," Squirtletwo said. "Hey, who wants to jump?"

"Yeah," Amber said. "That sounds like a great idea. Who else wants to?"

"Me!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "It sounds cool!"

"I'm sorry but water hurts me, remember?" Charmandertwo said.

"Oh come on," Bulbasaurtwo said. "We'll just hold you in front of us so you don't get wet. Okay?"

"I am not going!" Charmandertwo said.

"What about you Mewtwo?" Amber asked.

Mewtwo got nervous for a second. He really didn't know these guys real well, even though they were all so nice to him, so he was kind of embarrassed.

"Come on Mewtwo, we'll be fine," Squirtletwo said and floated right in front of him.

She batted her eyes adorably, reminding him just how feminine she was even though she was had a mischievous side.

"Please?" Squirtletwo asked so attractively it was hard to say no.

The Bulbasaurtwo levitated in front of him, butted Squirtletwo out of her place, and gave him an overly enthusiastic smile.

"Come on man, it'll be a blast!" Bulbasaurtwo roared adventurously.

Mewtwo looked away to the side.

"I don't know guys," Mewtwo replied, his cheeks growing hot. "It is a long ways down."

"Then I'll hold you hand," Amber said. "I'll do that while we go down."

Amber took Mewtwo's hand in his.

"Then…then who'll have my other hand?" Mewtwo asked.

"Sorry Mewtwo," Squirtletwo said. "I'd love to but I got someone else but not because I like them any better than you."

"I will!" Bulbasuartwo said. "As a token of friendship, as wordy Charmandertwo would say!"

The Bulbasaur copy wrapped his claw around Mewtwo's hand. His skin was not scaly as she expected but hard feeling and fairly smooth.

"Well you four have doing thaaaaaaa….." Charmandertwo was saying.

Mewtwo looked over his shoulder to see Squirtletwo had wrapped her arms around Charmandertwo from behind him.

"Your going off that waterfall whether you want to or not," Squirtletwo said slyly.

"Mommy," Charmandertwo squeaked.

"Jump!" Amber yelled.

Mewtwo in unison with Amber fell face forward into the waterfall.

"Weeeeee!" he could hear Amber screaming.

"Aaaaahhhhhh!" Mewtwo cried.

This was so fun! He could feel the waterfall flowing down his back and tail and forcing downward! What a rush! But it was so frightening having the water push you down like this! It was so scary, so terrifying but fun at the same time!

"This is awesome!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "I could do this everyday!"

"I would be too scared to!" Mewtwo yelled.

"Oh he's not really scared of anything!" Amber said. "You can't really scare Bulbasaurtwo especially when there's adventure promised!"

_Maybe he's not just silly. _Mewtwo thought.

PA-LOOSH!

Mewtwo, for the first time ever, was fully submerged in water. He could feel the liquid surround him on every inch of his body, making him feel calm and relaxed. He could still feel Bulbasaurtwo's claw and Amber's hand around his own hands. To Mewtwo that just made him fill so much more loved.

All three of them broke through the surface of the pool the waterfall made to see Charmandertwo standing on Squirtletwo's back while she was swimming through the water.

"That was so…" Charmandertwo tried to say angrily and then his face broke into a grin. "So fun. Thanks Squirts. The terror was worth it."

Squirtletwo gave a thumbs up.

"Happy to help," she said.

"You're my new best friend," Charmandertwo said.

"Hey!" Bulbasuartwo said. "I thought I was your best friend!"

Everyone laughed at that, even Mewtwo.

"You guys are all my best friend," Charmandertwo said. "And that includes you new guy."

Mewtwo felt touched by Charmandertwo's statement. All four of them were his best friends. And with that Mewtwo judged he would never have a sad day in his life again. After all his newfound friends would never abondon him.


	19. Charlie and Shane: 7 Years Later

**Chapter 19: Charlie and Shane: **

**Seven Years Later**

**Sorry but there was an error on Chapter 4 and 5. If you read it then you read the wrong thing. Now Chapter 4 and 5 has been edited to where it's right and longer. It explains more, including how the clones were created and Mewtwo's creation. If you already read the updated version where it goes into the process of the super clones as embryos and all of the meeting Amber for the first time then that was the update/correct version.**

"I've been hammering a naaaaiiiiil," Shane sung. "A naaaaaiiiiil, A naaaaaiiiiil. I've been hammering on a pipeline above the deep blue ocean all the cloudy daaaaayyyyy."

"Just because it's true you don't have to sing," Charlie said as he laid on the pipeline's metal structure.

"Well _you _try not getting bored after you take turns with your brother putting metal together and hammering nails and the only company a Krabby Pokemon," Shane complained.

"Kebby!" the Krabby cried as it sprayed bubbly foam from its mouth.

It had a red, oval shaped body with two thin legs to support it. It had two sharp claws that extended a foot above its head. Directly below its small eyes was a large mouth that extended all the way around its body.

"He always acts like this time," Shane said to the Krabby that had wondered from the ocean floor to the top of the pipe. "Just because he has the greatest singing voice ever doesn't mean _I can't _sing."

"Kra-ab!" Krabby replied, seeming to nod.

"Huh," Charlie sighed to himself.

_I don't blame him for getting bored. _Charlie thought. _It's also true I do have a great singing voice._

The two of them had taken turn replacing damaged metal and using nails to put in the new metal pieces. They had been assigned this along with other Team Rocket members who had been ordered to work at the secret lab on Cinnabar Island. Charlie heard that the pipeline carried the special orange liquid from an undisclosed, secret location, across the ocean, to the Cinnabar Mansion where the lab was. Charlie had seen it fill the vats that the clones floated in. However, because a the pipeline enormous size was interfering with their homes, a group of Tentacool had attacked the pipeline. Team Rocket interfered and defeated all of them before they could do any more damage to it. So those already assigned to be lab workers were given the job of manually fixing the damaged part of the pipeline.

So twenty to thirty feet away from them were adult Team Rocket members doing the exact same thing. They had been here since nine a.m. and it was now about three in the afternoon. Everyone was tired and had their shirts off.

Charlie was leaning back on the metal surface of the pipeline reading the book Blaine had given him. It contained written information of every Pokemon in Kanto. Charlie had been memorizing as much of the book as possible. He already memorized the text it had written about Krabby:

_Krabby's species was the River Crab Pokemon. Its well developed claws are incredibly sharp and were used for balance when walking. They grow quickly over their lifetime and has a very dense shell that prevents critical hits. Krabby's attack Bubble has been known to be used in a variety of ways, including cloaking itself and forming large shapes. It can absorb food value from sand allowing to burrow in the sand for long periods of time. This has led some experts to believe Krabby developed this as a way to avoid super effective Electric-type attacks. Krabby are usually very strong in the wild not only because of their impressive claws but because they are toughened by sparring with other Krabby. Krabby is usually a common Pokemon in seaside and freshwater bodies of water. Because of this, coupled with its strength, it and it's evolution, Kingler, are fairly common Pokemon among Pokemon trainers in Kanto. Unlike many Water-type Pokemon Krabby does not need much if any exposure to water to flow compose its system. This is due to its hard shell holding most water in its body. _

It went on with random information, also telling about how Krabby's best areas of strength were its physical power and defense.

Charlie had memorized hundreds of pages of information on random Pokemon in Blaine's book that he gave Charlie. Charlie read it so often because he still had secret ambition and hope of getting an epic, awe- inspiring, powerful Fire-type Pokemon one day and take on the Kanto Gym challenger.

Over the years of hardship through the Team Rocket Academy he and Shane had not been anywhere near a good position to get Pokemon until they were adults. Even then they were issued the standard Pokemon of usually Ekans, Koffing or Rattata, none of which Pokemon Charlie or his brother wanted.

The reason they had not gotten very far was not because they weren't smart. They had been shown to be intelligent, were great at communicating with Pokemon, and had great knowledge of Pokemon and technology. The problem was they had no killer instinct. Whether it was making insidious plots of their own or just following other evil plans they had no desire or skill to do something like that. Charlie just didn't have the killer instinct to and Shane was to gentle and nice. That put them at the bottom more than anything.

It crushed their dreams that their first Pokemon would be awesome Fire and/or Grass-type Pokemon and they would not get for at least awhile if ever. It depressed Charlie and he knew it hurt his brother just as much but if he had enough knowledge of Pokemon maybe he didn't need to rely on Team Rocket to give it to him.

But even though it may had been repressed and reality checked over and over again they had hope of becoming great trainers with great Pokemon. That hope was what kept Charlie going each day, knowing that if he worked hard enough maybe things would work out. It had worked in him over the years to make him cunning and determined beyond what anyone would expect.

_If I just had one chance, I would show them all what a great Pokemon trainer I would be. _Charlie thought.

"Kreb," Krabby cried softly as it slashed some algae growing off the pipe's metal surface.

"I know," Shane said as Charlie read about the evolutionary change that happens when Vulpix is given a Fire Stone. "I feel kind of lonely too. Do you know what it's like for your best friend to be murdered when your only eight years old?"

Charlie glanced away from his reading to give Shane an exasperated look.

"Come on man," Charlie said. "She's gone. Get over it. She died when we were young."

"I still remember everything about her like it was yesterday," Shane said, pausing from his pounding with his hammer. "Her smile, the way her skin reflected light, the way her blue eyes took in the sun, the way she always made me laugh, how she acted so interested in the mysteries of life, and…just how much she loved life in general."

"Dude you sound like you have some crush on her or something," Charlie said bluntly.

Charlie saw Shane's face become pink.

"No," Shane said.

"Krabby!" the little Pokemon cried as it munched happily on algae.

"Stay out of it!" Shane replied to Krabby. "And **NO**…I did not _like _her. She just had a nice personality and person. That's all. And boy, girl or not she was my best friend. She was _our _best friend."

"Amber's gone," Charlie said. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

Shane looked like he was going to cry. The mere mention of her name made him look like he wanted to cry. Charlie knew he shouldn't have said it. It may have been half their lives ago that Amber had died but Charlie had to admit that Amber was hard to forget. She had this aura about her that would keep her forever young, forever innocent. It gave Charlie sharp pain in his heart to really know someone like her was gone.

"Sorry," Shane said. "You're right Charlie. I'm fifteen years old now. It's time to forget something that happened when I was eight."

Charlie put his hand on his brother's shoulder. He was the emotionally stronger brother, the one who had total control of his emotions. It was his job to help his older brother.

"It's okay," Charlie said. "I shouldn't have said that. It's just, not necessarily that we're not kids anymore, but each day the world just treated us less and less like kids. I guess I was tired of acting like I don't care."

Shane put his hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"It's okay too," Shane said. "I just need to care a bit less sometimes."

"No," Charlie said. "It's good you care but the world takes advantage of caring and makes it your weak spot. People don't hate the world because they don't care about it. It's because they care so much and no one cares about them."

What Charlie said was true. He'd seen it in some kids like them in the Team Rocket Academy. Poor kids, with nothing ahead of them except what a global mafia could supply them. Those kids cared about things in the world: Pokemon, people, nature, even their superiors. It was just that no of those necessarily had love for them. And so they hated the world so much they wanted to see it destroyed.

"Charlie," Shane was starting to say. "I know Amber's gone…but I…but I…I-"

"Gee-Otto!" Charlie heard a piercing screech cry.

He whirled around to see it was a Pidgeotto acing only ten feet above their heads! Charlie in a great panic grabbed the book Blaine gave him, tucked it close to his chest, scooted ten feet to the right, grabbed his and Shane's shirt and pressed himself firmly against the surface of the pipeline.

"TO!" the Bird Pokemon cried as it raced ten feet to the side of him.

Charlie could feel the violent rush of wind that sent his brown hair straight and even pushed him a few feet farther to the right.

"Yeeeee-yaaahhh!" Charlie could hear Shane's voice cry.

"KRAAAABBY!" Charlie could hear the Water-type Pokemon cry.

PA-LOOSH!

Pa-Loosh!

Charlie heard the sound of Shane and the lighter Krabby hit the surface of the water five feet below from being thrown off the pipeline by the sheer wind of Pidgeotto's speed.

Charlie got up to see the Pidgeotto flapping in mid-air and staring at the workers.

"Krabby-Krabby-Krabby-Krabby-Krabby!" he heard the Pokemon cry angrily.

"Yeah I'm with you!" Shane replied. "I'm Krabby-Krabby-Krabby-Krabby-Krabby at that bird!"

"Whew," Charlie sighed.

He looked down at the book to see it was totally dry.

_It was flying at about 1/50__th__ of its full speed. _Charlie thought having read extensively about the Pokemon in his book.

"The Pidgeotto flew in folks!" the foreman said. "Time to get back to the lab! After the next session of workers the pipeline will be fixed!"

Most of the other workers yelled a hardy "Hurray!" at the sound of their work done. Charlie jumped off the pipeline, onto the boat below, and pulled his brother up. Shane said goodbye to the Krabby and they left for the Cinnabar Mansion.


	20. The Perfect Pokemon

**Chapter 20: The Perfect Pokemon**

When Shane and himself got back from the pipeline work everything was the usual: no one was talking, just the scientists collecting blood samples with needle vials or Team Rocket grunts like themselves running around doing various errands. Shane kind of thought it was sort of depressing how everyone was so quiet except for the occasional report of the progress of the clones.

Shane had only been here three days and it already seemed depressing beyond relief.

Shane and Charlie walked silently over to a vacant table where a man with white hair and black, energetic eyes. It was a quiet, secluded spot in the lab where no one came but the man that Shane and Charlie had befriended.

"Blaine!" Charlie said.

"Good to see you my lads!" Blaine said. "How's the book? Learning a lot?"

"I sure am," Charlie said, holding the book with a brown cover and a red gem in the center up. "I've memorized the information on dozens of Pokemon in Kanto."

"Good to here you'll be a walking, talking Pokedex!" Blaine said. "I hope you become as smart as me you little genius!"

"I've been reading about Fire-type Pokemon especially and it seems the majority have either extreme offense or speed and commonly both," Charlie said.

"Very true my boy!" Blaine said. "I've been thinking about it and I think I know where you might just be able to get a Ponyta!"

"Wow!" Charlie nearly squealed. "Really!"

_Totally unfair! _Shane thought. _Charlie was going to get his dream Pokemon and I haven't can't get mine! _

Shane decided the best thing to do at that time was to step away before he started crying. Shane said he needed to go to the bathroom to excuse himself from Blaine and his brother. Then he walked away, his pockets in his Team Rocket uniform pants and his head down.

"I heard the clones are going to be able released outside their glass in just two days after today," Shane heard Blaine tell Charlie. "In about that time, maybe a day or two more, Mewtwo will go through a growth spurt."

_Dang. _Shane thought.

He admitted it. He was totally jealous of Charlie being able to get an awesome Fire-type before he could get a Grass-type but it reminded him of his real poverty. It reminded Shane about how his entire life depended on hope and luck. For Pete's sake he had joined Team Rocket for a place to sleep, food, and the chance for a Pokemon. All he got was more depressed.

Shane longed for a Pokemon that would manifest his passion for nature. To him Pokemon were less like pets and more like the sacred place you put the place of the need for food and wealth. To Shane Pokemon were the bridge between creatures like humans and nature like water, trees, and the earth. He loved how they were imbued with the power of the forces and landscape of nature. Each and every Pokemon represented a different aspect of the universe that they controlled and gave them life.

Shane had such a longing for Grass-types because they were beautiful in such a way that they controlled and expressed the very harmony of botany on earth.

_It sounds pitifully poetic and whimsy but it's true. _Shane thought.

And there was also the part of him that loved fighting.

Contrasted to his peaceful, poetic side was the side the wanted power, that wanted action. That side of Shane was for battle and to declare the power of one side infinitely stronger than the other. He'd had both since he was born.

Shane turned to see the scientists who just a minute ago were collecting blood samples of the Pokemon in the vats were now on break. They were sitting around over cups of coffee chatting.

Shane looked up into the glass vats as he walked by them. All of their eyes were closed.

In one was a Pokemon, about a foot shorter than he was, that looked sort of feline. It was pale purple with a darker purple tail, a human-like face, and three fingers and toes on each hand and foot. It had a curved tube that extended to connect its head with its back. It was named Mewtwo, a clone of Mew.

In the next glass was a light orange lizard, curled up, with dark, horizontal stripes that extended down it's back, tail, and arms. It's bald head had a marking splotch the same color as the rest of its stripes. It was Charmandertwo, the clone of Charmander.

In another was a sky blue turtle with a brown shell. It had a slight stripe on the side of each eye and two thin stripes that came over its bald head. On the back of its shell it had dark circles that circled around the perimeter of its shell with one circle in the middle. A closer look made the shell be seen more clearly to be shown it was shiny. It was Squirtletwo, the clone of Squirtle.

The last glass vat made Shane stop and stare.

In it was a Pokemon that's lower half looked teal but closer examination made it clear the Pokemon's body was sky blue. On each leg were dark, horizontal stripes on each leg. It had splotch on its head and near the plant on its back. From this angle it had the most gorgeous, bright green flower bulb on its back. It reminded Shane of the color mint. It had just the cutest little dinosaur-like head with shut eyes like the others, making it look mysterious. It was Bulbasaurtwo, the clone of Bulbasaur.

In Shane's lifetime he had only seen a Bulbasaur once and that was in Charlie's book he got a few days ago. He never knew Bulbasaur existed before then. But now Shane, like he had with ever other Grass-type, was falling in love with it. Shane was appreciating its beauty, the depth of the color of its flower plant, the harmony of its animal and plant body as one. He admired the markings across its body, thinking they added to its beauty.

_Stop! _Shane thought. _You know that wanting it will only cause you heartache! Bulbasaurtwo can never be yours! In Team Rocket_ _level is the latrine! They would barely give you a standard Pokemon and your wanting the Pokemon that's so strong, so dangerously powerful, and extremely rare that almost all the commanders in Team Rocket aren't trustworthy of it! And _**you **_want it?! You'd might as well want wings and rainbow colored skin!_

But Shane was already fantasizing about petting the Pokemon, playing with the Pokemon, and battling with the Pokemon. He couldn't control himself from totally falling for it even deeper and more strongly than any other Grass-type he had seen. His three way tie between Victreebell the Flycatcher Pokemon, Tangela the Vine Pokemon, and Exeggutor the Coconut Pokemon, had been destroyed and replaced by this one clone/copy of a Pokemon. Shane now loved Bulbasaurtwo more than life itself.

_But it will never be mine. _Shane thought. _That's absolutely impossible._

"Um…Shane…" a voice behind asked.

"I WANT IT!" Shane yelled and whirled around.

It was his brother Charlie.

Shane looked around to see everyone was way to busy with chatting and working to notice his sudden outburst.

Charlie looked kind of awkwardly at Shane.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

"Um…well you see I was…um…um…you see I was…well…" Shane muttered.

_Just say a convincing lie. _Shane thought. _That you were thinking about Amber or lunch._

"You were looking at Bulbasaurtwo weren't you?" Charlie asked.

Shane sighed.

"Yeah," Shane said. "Pretty much."

Charlie looked directly to Shane's right.

"I know because I've been wanting a certain Pokemon too," Charlie said.

Shane looked in the direction Charlie was looking.

He was staring directly at Charmandertwo. It floated in the orange liquid in the vat, its eyes shut, totally unaware someone was yearning for it.

"But-" Shane started to say.

"We're the lowest of the grunts and those clones aren't even trusted by guys who are so superior they walk on other Team Rocket executives?" Charlie said. "I know exactly what you mean bro."

Shane looked down at the floor.

_Too bad. _He thought, feeling tears well up in his eyes. _Its not like we could steal them-_

That single thought made Shane's head snap back up and made his body lose all thought of tears.

"Charlie!" Shane said.

"What?" his brother asked looking kind of depressed.

"We may not have the killer edge to steal things in our Art of Stealing class but we do make a pretty good plan, am I right?" Shane said.

Charlie smiled devilishly.

"Very right," Charlie said.

"Couldn't have stolen those books with a buzz saw or an electromagnetic field generator without a plan, am I right?" Shane asked.

"Very, very right," Charlie said as his smile got more sinister.

"Well I got a plan to turn our frowns upside down," Shane said, making his own devilish smile.

"Tell me, oh grand evil plot maker," Charlie said.

Both of them exchanged a quiet evil laugh before Shane brought Charlie over to a secluded part of the lab and started whispering in his ear the plan of a thief.


	21. Destiny

**Chapter 21: Destiny**

"What do you see Mewtwo?" Amber asked.

Mewtwo looked up at an especially tall cloud in the sky as his back was to the grass. This part of Amber's remember place had been a green pasture with rolling hills and a cloudy sky. This is what Amber told Mewtwo humans did for fun.

"I suppose I see you Amber," Mewtwo said. "I see you floating in the air like we always do but your…I think I see you crying. I don't know. It just reminds me of your hair a little bit and a sad face."

"Oh," Squirtletwo said. "That's so deep."

Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo, himself, and Amber were all lying in the grass in a relaxed position. Amber, Squirtletwo, and Mewtwo were on their backs as Charmandertwo was floating slightly so as not to burn anything and Bulbasaurtwo was resting on his stomach, being a quadruped.

"What do you see Char?" Amber asked.

"I suppose I see a cloud shaped like book," Charmandertwo replied. "Only in front of the book is something shaped like the mansion Amber once lived in."

"I wish I saw that," Amber said.

"I see a huge mountain in the clouds," Squirtletwo said. "It's shaped so much like a mountain and as big as one too. I wish mine was as deep as Mewtwo's."

"Thank-you," Mewtwo said.

"What do you see Bulbasaurtwo?" Amber asked.

"Hmmmm…" he contemplated. "Oh wait! I see a big stadium! With a chorus of singing Pidgeot! I see it!"

"Where is that in the clouds?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Oh it's in there!" Bulbasaurtwo said and got on all fours. "And I believe that I'm in the middle of the stadium! Using all power, running at top speed, flattening my opponents like the inferior fighters they are!"

"Wow," Squirtletwo said. "Slow down. Do you really think you're the best there is? After all this time you haven't even learned Vine Whip with all your training."

"Oh I know!" Bulbasaurtwo said.

He then turned toward me. I saw his red iris stare into mine. What I saw was pure excitement and thrill.

"Come on Mewtwo!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "You heard Amber say it herself! We have the two in our names! We're copies of the original Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Mew, and Amber! We're special!"

Bulbasaurtwo looked back at that cloud.

_Boy the way he talks. _Mewtwo thought. _Bulbasaurtwo can make anything sound good. _

"Give it a break man," Charmandertwo said. "Just because we're copies of the original doesn't mean we're better. In fact there's no telling what our difference to them at all is."

"I don't know," Squirtletwo said. "Compared to the ones we've seen we're pretty different. I mean, with all the markings and stuff. We're definitely not the same, no matter how much we look alike."

"Maybe not," Amber said. "I mean, I've heard the whispers call me Ambertwo just like you guys are called two. However, I'm the same Amber I was when Surge…when I left."

"Mewtwo come on!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "You know we're special Pokemon, right!? It's our destiny to become better, stronger, and the greatest Pokemon the world has ever known!"

_Destiny. _Mewtwo thought. _What is that?_

"What is destiny?" Mewtwo asked. "What does it mean?"

"Come one Mewtwo," Bulbasuartwo said and rolled his eyes. "You know."

"No I don't," Mewtwo replied.

"Destiny means someone's future that's already been determined or their inner realization about themselves," Amber said.

Mewtwo looked upon himself, from his purple tail to the spherical digits on his fingers.

"A destiny is a purpose in life," Amber said.

"What is our purpose?" Mewtwo asked. "What are the five of us supposed to do in our life? I mean, surely you know that we will one day get out of this place."

"I know that," Bulbasaurtwo said.

Amber, Squirtletwo, and Charmandertwo nodded to him.

"Where will we be?" Mewtwo asked. "And what will we be doing?"

"Well, I'll be the greatest, strongest, absolute best Pokemon there ever is and will be!" Bulbasaurtwo said. "Oh yeah! It's my destiny!"

Charmandertwo rolled his eyes.

"I'll be studying," he said smiling. "I'll be learning about that world as a whole. I'll know everything from human culture to the geographical locations of every single place. I'll know everything, therefore I'll become the master of my own life."

"Now that's a big yawn Flame Boy," Squirtletwo said. "Who wants to sit around and read all day?"

"And what will you do?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Well," she replied. "I know I'll be out having fun, whatever that may be. Guys, come on. That hasn't even come yet. Don't think about it till it comes around. We obviously have _so_ much time before _that_ happens."

"Yeah," Mewtwo remarked, chuckling. "She's right you know."

"Squirts is right," Charmandertwo said. "There's no telling when we'll leave. In fact because Amber's memories come directly from outside world we don't know if it will be much different than our lives now. We don't know what will happen."

"Ahhh…" Bulbasaurtwo said and slumped to the ground. "But I wanted to be in a Pokemon battle."

"Okay guys," Amber asked. "Where do you want to go next?"

Mewtwo could here his friends go "Hmm" as they thought. Mewtwo himself was more quiet than that. Suddenly he had an idea.

"The town you lived in," Mewtwo said. "I would like to see that."

"Yeah okay," Squirtletwo said. "None of us have seen your town that you lived in. Just your house."

To Mewtwo's surprise Amber looked grieved. Pain came upon her smiling, innocent face that looked so unnatural.

"What's wrong?" Mewtwo asked.

"Nothing…it's just that…I haven't been there in so long," Amber said. "Before you came Mewtwo, and I know that was a really long time ago and it was a very short period of time for the four of us to be without you but in those days that's when I went home often. It's because I missed it so much. Now…I don't know how else to say this but…I think I don't miss home anymore because I have you guys with me."

"Saur?" he cried and turned toward Amber.

"Char?" he cried and turned toward Amber.

"Squirtle?" she cried and turned toward Amber.

"What?" Mewtwo cried.

It was all a shock to them. For what felt like forever to all of them they had been constantly living in the fact that Amber had been killed by a man named Matis Surge, placed in the strange place she was in with Mewtwo and his Pokemon friends and it somehow led to their creation. They had always assumed Amber had a hole in her heart because of what happened and constantly missed home. It came as a surprise to all of them that they had just witnessed Amber tell them all that the four of them had replaced Amber's home.

"It feels so weird telling you guys about it," Amber said. "I know I'm supposed to feel sad about it but really I'm just not depressed about it anymore. I've outgrown that and now it's been replaced by the fact that you guys are my home."

Now Mewtwo felt like crying. He had never cried before but he knew that Pokemon and humans could cry. Mewtwo felt so sensitive, not really sad at all but so emotionally blown away that they had replaced Amber's home for her. But in spite of that Mewtwo held back tears.

He looked at his friends who were Pokemon to see that they were not crying but they looked remorseful as well. Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo all had sympathy and emotion in their face.

"Okay," Amber said. "Let's go."

"Really?" Charmandertwo asked.

"Yeah," Amber said. "I may have outgrown home but I know that I would have closure with my old life. It would give me closure that it's gone and my new life has been going on for…Charmandertwo how long do you think it has been going on?"

"I am not sure at all," the Fire-type said. "I don't have any time basis to go on once so ever. I don't know if it has been a matter of days or weeks."

"Oh," Squirtletwo said. "Who cares how long we've been here? Are we going or not?"

Amber smiled.

"We sure are Squirts," Amber said. "Let's go. My hometown on Cinnabar Island is actually not far from here at all."

Amber levitated into the air slowly.

"Okay," Mewtwo said. "Come on guys. Let's go."

"Right behind you!" Bulbasaurtwo said and zipped off behind him.

"To Amber's home we go," Charmandertwo said.

"I'll be right there cutie," Squirtletwo said.

Squirtletwo's comment made Mewtwo blush.

_You know. _He thought. _Squirtletwo is kind of pretty._

And they all flew through the sky trying to catch up with Amber as the sun set and the sky started turning orange.


	22. Plan In Action

**Chapter 22: Plan In Action**

Shane looked down below.

He and his brother Charlie stood on the roof of the lab and it was nighttime. Shane saw the Team Rocket grunt looking at the perimeter around. He looked like he would never stop looking, waiting, watching out for any sign of trouble.

_Man Charlie said it was nearly time for him to leave his shift. _Shane thought. _Come on. Go already._

Shane looked toward his brother, showing his impatience.

"Wait," Charlie mouthed.

Charlie looked down at his watch. Shane looked down at the man in the black Team Rocket uniform. Then the Rocket grunt looked down at his own watch beneath the sleeve of his uniform and walked away into the moonlight.

"Let's go," Shane said.

Charlie nodded.

Shane, the stronger of two of them, grabbed the rope as hard as he could and threw it down to the ground. The rope they stole from the supplies closet in the lab. Charlie climbed down first, the rope held by Shane. As soon as he climbed down, Charlie whirled around.

He gave a thumbs up to Shane to tell him the coast was clear.

Shane then tied the rope to the satellite dish hooked to the roof. Shane and Charlie agreed that it was less reliable to hold either of them up so Shane let Charlie down first. Now Shane just hoped the satellite dish would hold. Shane gripped the rope, stepped off the edge of the ceiling, and walked vertically down the wall for forty feet or so.

Then Shane and Charlie pulled the rope with all their strength combined and the rope was undone from its tied position to the satellite. Shane threw it in some nearby bushes for its temporary placement.

"You got it?" Shane asked.

Charlie pulled out a paper clip.

"Oh yeah," Charlie said. "We have ten minutes before the next grunt on duty takes his shift."

"Then let us hurry," Shane said and motioned to the door with his arms. "After you."

Charlie undid the paper clip until it was straight. Then he went on his knees, picking the door with the straightened paper clip. Shane stood watch, crouching low in case of a swift jump into the bushes was needed if someone came their way.

"Have you heard Executive Miles and Miller are dating?" Charlie asked as he picked the lock. "I heard rumors they had pasta."

"I know right?" Shane said as he stood watch. "Kind of gross if you ask me. Can you imagine the two of them, if their not doing something totally insidious, actually making out over a candlelit spaghetti ?"

"Ew yuck Shane," Charlie said. "Don't get it in my head bro."

Shane kind of smiled at the joke.

_Maybe if Amber hadn't been murdered we might be doing the same thing. _Shane thought.

Shane mentally kicked himself.

_She's dead man! _Shane yelled at himself. _Get a hold of yourself! She's dead and there is absolutely nothing you can do! Get over it!_

Shane did as the reasonable part of him commanded. The thought of Amber led him to remember that Dr. Fuji, Amber's dad, was leading the experiment to engineer the super clones. Why was that? Making Pokemon in his own home? Why did he decide to join Team Rocket?

"And ta-da!" Charlie said as Shane heard the door swing open. "We. Are. In."

Shane and Charlie stepped into the room and Shane close the door behind them.

The room was pretty empty except for the cables on the floor. There were four cables. The blue one went to Squirtletwo's vat, the red one to Charmandertwo's, the green one to Bulbasaurtwo's, (color coded) and a peach colored one that came to a shock to Shane that it was there.

"What's the really light orange one there for?" Shane asked.

"I don't know," Charlie said. "Blaine told me the one leading to Mewtwo's vat was in another room because Mewtwo's embryo was made later than the others so I don't that was is its."

"Well who cares?" Shane asked. "It's probably just an extra cord for something else anyway. Let's just get it over with. May I do the honors?"

"Let us both," Charlie said.

They both walked over to the cord's plug-in. It was where all four cables connected into one large plug in. Shane and Charlie got a hold on the cable.

"Ready. Set. Pull!" Charlie said.

Shane strained as hard as he could, until morning sounds forced themselves out of his throat. It was extremely hard to pull and though mostly Shane's strength was pulling Charlie was a big help. Suddenly Shane could feel the plug-in slipping until…Shane fell flat on his back, his brother right beside him.

The plug-in was out on the floor.

"Done," Shane said.

"That was the cable to reading their vital signs," Charlie said. "We have about two minutes before the computer stops reading them. Let's get out and go."

"Right," Shane replied.

Shane made sure the door was locked before he left out another door in the room with Charlie. That door led out to Dr. Fuji's private quarters where no one was allowed to be accept to Fuji. The secret of their actions were safe.


	23. They Really Are Thieves

**Chapter 23: They Really Are Thieves **

"No that's the moon!" Amber said. "And the stars are the little lights that twinkle all night, just so we won't feel alone in the dark."

Mewtwo stared at the big sphere in the sky. Apparently Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo already knew what wind, sun, stars, and the moon were because they didn't say anything. Bulbasaurtwo had taken a quick nap on the way to where they were but was now wide awake.

They were suspended in the air above Amber's hometown on Cinnabar Island. Mewtwo knew, and he knew that his friends knew, Amber was afraid to go down. Mewtwo was anxious to see Amber's home but Amber was so hesitant as they all knew that she would barely move an inch where they were floating in the air.

Mewtwo looked over his shoulder to his friends, they would know what to do. Squirtletwo looked just as hesitant as Amber did, unlike her usual self which was ambitious to have fun and mischief. Charmandertwo was serious as usual but he wasn't blunt right now as he knew what Amber's complex feelings were right now. Bulbasaurtwo, as always ready to take on a challenge, looked like he wanted to say something but just couldn't.

"Bulbasaurtwo," Mewtwo spoke to him alone. "Do something."

He nodded.

"Amber," Bulbasaurtwo said to Amber privately. "Are we going or not?"

"Let's go," Amber said. "I do want to see my old home again."

And with that they agreed to go down into the city.

Shane and Charlie entered the main room of the laboratory. No one seemed to notice because of the significance of what Charlie heard was happening. The scientists all looked grim.

"We're losing all readings from Charmandertwo!" a female scientist said.

Charlie's heart jumped through excitement.

_**Yes!**_ Was the expression he gave Shane.

"It's working," Charlie whispered. "The cable we unplugged was the one that hooked up to the bio-reading machines to three of the clones!"

Shane looked happy. A smile appeared from one side of his face to the other.

"Oh no not again!" a male researcher said.

Charlie had heard that Giovanni had ordered the cloning of Pokemon before and they failed to survive. These guys must have been there during those failed tries.

"Bulbasaurtwo and Squirtletwo are fading the same way!"

Charlie saw Shane's face light up with even more excitement.

"Doctor," one of the scientists said to Fuji. "We're losing _her_ to."

Charlie felt a bit of remorse. He knew Mewtwo was a he so this her that was obviously where the fourth cable went was special to him. Charlie wondered what it could be shortly.

Everyone fell silent as they thought what was happening was the clones dying.

"What do we do now?" Charlie whispered.

"We steal them," Shane replied. "They think they're all dead."

"Excuse me," Shane said. "Um…what a crying shame they're dead. I mean, what loss for the scientific community."

"You two!" a scientist ordered. "Retrieve their bodies and throw them in the ocean just outside! Nothing more we can do now!"

Charlie and Shane calmly walked to the clones' glass tubes. Charlie stood in front of Charmandertwo's vat. A researcher near him pressed a button and the suction cups on his head lost their grip on the clone. Charlie anxiously watch Charmandertwo sink to the bottom. Charlie reached his arms into the permeable bottom into the liquid inside that got Charlie's uniform sleeves wet. He grabbed the Pokemon by the waist and pulled it out of the vat as he felt the warm pulse of the Pokemon's body.

Charmandertwo was about to descend down to the town below he felt something. He felt that he was being pulled away from where he was. Charmandertwo felt like he was no longer attached to this world.

"Char," he cried in anguish.

Suddenly his body began giving off streams of bluish-white vapor. Before his own eyes he became transparent. His friends, Mewtwo, Amber, Bulbasaurtwo, and Squirtletwo turned to see him fade away. Then, after his body totally disappeared everything went black and he fell asleep.

Shane put one arm each into Bulbasaurtwo and Squirtletwo's vat of liquid.

_I'll take care of both of you. _Shane thought. _I won't abandon you Squirtletwo. I won't even thought Bulbasaurtwo I love more than any other Pokemon._

"Squirtle!" she cried in fear as she began to disappear just like Charmandertwo did.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaurtwo cried in fear and surprise.

In front of his own eyes he and Squirtletwo began to become transparent and give off the same streams of bluish-white vapor as Charmandertwo did.

To his horror he vanished with Squirtletwo, everything went dark, and he went to sleep.

"Make sure to throw them in the ocean!" a scientist yelled. "We don't want anyone coming upon their bodies alright?!"

Shane nodded.

He and Charlie calmly walked out the door to the laboratory. Charlie whirled around to make sure no one saw them and when he said so Shane bolted to the left.

"Oh boy! Oh boy!" Shane couldn't help but scream with his favorite Pokemon in his right arm and Squirtletwo in his left. "Pokemon! Finally we got some Pokemon!"

"I know dude!" Charlie said as he followed Shane. "I finally got found and got my favorite Pokemon in the entire world! Woo-hoo!"

"Can you believe our luck?!" Shane said. "Success! I can't wait to till Bulbasaurtwo wakes up!"

"You got that right!" Charlie yelled. "Oh man this is the absolute best day ever! Falling behind in every mark in the Academy just so that one day we would get the coolest Pokemon in the world! Remember Shane, these Pokemon are said to be stronger than the originals so did we get lucky or what?! Am I right?!"

"Yes you are!" Shane said.

Shane stopped as soon as he saw the small building he was looking for.

"So what are we here for?" Charlie asked.

"It's simple really," Shane said. "In here are four more glass vats. They're used so that when the clones were healthy enough to survive in the outside world they could be brought out and placed in these. If the Pokemon clones are mature enough the liquid awakens the Pokemon. These clones _are _ready to survive but we got them out just a little bit earlier than Team Rocket did."

"You. Are. A. Genius." Charlie said.

"Thank-you little brother," Shane said. "But I really couldn't have done it without you actually helping me. Thanks man."

"You came up with the plan," Charlie said.

"Well let us just say after these guys get awake life will be as easy as pie from here on out," Shane said as he opened the door. "We have our favorite Pokemon ever and nothing can stop us."

They both entered the small building but they encountered a surprise. It was true what Shane said. There were four glass tubes filled with blue liquid inside(one which had a small pump beside it and had a large pipe connecting it to the ceiling) in a row. What they were shocked to see was Blaine staring at them.

"Blaine!" Shane and Charlie cried.

"That's my name alright," Blaine said as he bored holes through them with his eyes.

"What…what are you doing here?" Charlie asked as Shane's body shook with fear.

_This isn't good. _Shane thought and gripped the bodies of the clones tighter. _This is not good at all._

"I was just about to put get the other unfortunate clone out of its glass via the pump you see here," he said. "But what are you two doing here?"

"Um…" Shane started. "Ordered to bring them here for…medical storage. You know for…future experiment things…?"

Shane's body shook vigorously and so did Charlie's. Shane could feel sweat cover every part of his body and adrenalin rush into him as he felt the fear of being caught.

Blaine eyed them suspiciously.

"Bringing three dead clones into a place where live ones are supposed to gain consciousness," Blaine said. "That's a very odd order. By the way your body is quivering, sweating profusely, and your eyes are moving back and forth I'd say your hiding something."

"Ummm…" Shane couldn't help but say.

"Would we lie to you Blaine?" Charlie asked.

"Good question," Blaine said. "Knowing how much you two love Pokemon and those are pretty rare and strong ones I think you'd do anything to have them. Now, is there something you know that I don't? Come clean or I'll immediately tell on you and then you'll be in really big trouble."

Shane got nudged in the gut so fast he nearly dropped Squirtletwo.

"You tell him," Charlie whispered. "It was your plan."

"I can't explain this. Your better at it then me," Shane replied.

Blaine's eyes made Shane feel queasy with fear. He didn't want to lose his Pokemon or be in trouble with Team Rocket. The only option was to confess. Both he and Charlie quickly explained how they made the clones look like they were dead in order to have them for themselves.

Blaine looked more impressed then mad now but he still made Shane feel uneasy.

"Hmm," he replied. "Pretty smart if I do say so myself."

Shane gripped the two Pokemon even harder. He could now feel every crease between the green petals on Bulbasaurtwo's flower and the smoothness of Squirtletwo's under shell.

"Well I never really liked the idea of the Rockets having their hands on the strongest Pokemon in the world," Blaine said. "You can keep them."

Shane's heart felt relieved with merriment again.

"YES!" He and Charlie cried and jumped into the air.

"But you have to promise me something," Blaine said. "You have to help me with this next clone. You have to promise to take this girl back to her father where she belongs, with Dr. Fuji. Her body is more mature than when she died and has been given additional psychic powers but her mind is of when she died. He worked hard to bring her back to life and now it is up to you to help with that."

Shane's jaw dropped.

"You…you mean…is that Amber?" Shane said.

"Amber? Fuji?" Charlie asked.

"That is her name," Blaine replied.

Shane and Charlie stared at one another.

"She was our best friend when we were little kids," Charlie said. "We played together all the time."

"Well she's alive now," Blaine said. "Be happy of that."

Shane was overjoyed. He had his favorite Pokemon and now his best friend back with him. This was a miracle.

"Come put the Pokemon in any of the vats except the one with the pump beside it," Blaine said.

Shane and Charlie nodded.

They both crawled over to glass. Shane grabbed Bulbasaurtwo with both arms, placing Squirtletwo gently on the floor, and shoved his unmoving body through the permeable base of the vat. When he shoved the clone all the way through it floated in the vat's blue liquid.

Shane then shoved Squirtletwo into another of the vats and it became suspended in the liquid just as Bulbasaurtwo did.

Shane looked to see Charmandertwo in a glass vat like the other two.

"Give them a second to come awake," Blaine said. "They will but just give them a minute or two."

Blaine looked over to Shane.

"Now would a strong boy like you mind helping an old man like me?" Blaine asked.

"Sure," Shane replied. "What do I have to do?"

"Just use the pump and Amber's consciousness that's the red and glowing light in Fuji's lab will rush into her new body," Blaine said. "Thus Ambertwo will be born."

Shane and Blaine grabbed the handle, a square shape with a black folding press beneath it, and started pressing down on it as hard as possible. Blaine explained it triggered Amber's mind's emptying from the glass where she was and through the cables that were stuck to Ambertwo's new body's head entered into the brain.

Amber witnessed Mewtwo dive and spin in midair, searching confusedly for his Pokemon friends.

_I hate to say it. _Amber thought. _But I'm sure they're dead. They vanished and died._

Amber watched, more sad than confused, about what just happened. Mewtwo's perplexed face stared back at Amber.

"Where did they go?" he asked.

Amber couldn't think of anything to say but she didn't have to. Her body was giving off the same bluish-white vapor that the others had before they disappeared. She could feel herself being drawn away from where she was. Amber saw Mewtwo's face become engrossed with horror as she realized it was happening to her to.

"What's wrong Amber?" Mewtwo asked. "What's happening?"

Amber couldn't think of anything more to say than a farewell.

"It feels like it's time to say goodbye," Amber said.

"Goodbye?" Mewtwo asked as he began to cry.

_He's just a kid like me. _She thought. _But he doesn't know what death and goodbyes are. At least before my second death, probably my last one, I had the best friends in the world._

"I feel something," Mewtwo said and wiped his eyes and saw tears. He stared at the liquid on his hands. Mewtwo had never seen these before because he had never before been sad. "What are these?"

"They're tears," Amber said trying her best to smile. "You're crying."

"Crying?" Mewtwo asked.

"My Daddy used to tell me a bedtime story that Pokemon are sad, and they cry, their tears are filled with life," Amber said.

"I'm so…sad," Mewtwo said.

More tears rolled down his face.

"I have to go," Amber said.

"Why?" Mewtwo asked.

_Yes. _Why_ am I dying? _Amber thought. _Why?_

"I don't know," Amber said. "But it's alright. Thank you for caring about me…and don't cry, Mewtwo. You should be happy! You're alive and life is wonderful…"

Amber heard that last line echo as the last thing she saw where her body was it was glittering moonlight.

"Oh…," Mewtwo said.

His best friends, Squirts, Char, Bulby, Amber, all of them were gone forever. Why? Did they want to leave them? Did the outside world take them? What happened!?

"These tears," Mewtwo said and glared at the water on his hands. "What good are they!?"

He threw all the water in his hand away, growing angry at someone he did not know, the invisible one who took his friends. Mewtwo would in his life feel the exact same rage many times over. Furious at something he did not know and could not see. Bulbasaurtwo's silliness and determination was not with him, Charmandertwo's seriousness and composedd nature was not either, Squirtletwo's attraction to him was not there to cheer him up and neither was her funfilled nature, and neither was Amber's love. Love had all but vanished and he did not go with them for some strange, undefined reason.

"Please Amber!" Mewtwo yelled desperately. "Come back! Don't go Please! AMBER!"

He thought about calling out to his other friends but he realized they were gone just as much as Amber was.

And suddenly, erupted inside of him, was the very fury that made hime probably the strongest and most savage Pokemon on Earth.

Mewtwo didn't roar with his voice but unleashed the untapped power beyond anyone's comprehension.

AAAAHHHH!

"Doctor!" a female scientist said. "Mewtwo's brainwaves are out of control!"

Fuji looked over at Mewtwo's body in the vat. It's body was glowing with a blue aura, something that happens when Psychic-types are about launch a Psychic-attack.

"It's getting too upset! It mustn't remember this! Administer the sirum!" Dr. Fuji ordered.

"I'll try one hundred units," the researcher said and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard.

_She's gone. _Fuji thought. _Mildred was right to leave me. _

"Ten…twenty…thirty…forty…fifty…sixty…seventy…eighty…ninety…one hundred!" she said.

Fuji looked to see Mewtwo's glowing stopped.

"What's happening?! Is it working?!" Fuji asked.

"Its brainwaves are going back to normal," the researcher said. "Everything seems okay, Doctor."

"Nothing is okay!" Fuji yelled. "My Amber is gone forever! Only Mewtwo survives…"

Before Shane and Charlie's eyes into the vat of blue liquid came Amber's body. They covered their eyes because she had no clothes on but did see enough to know she had grown into a teenager. And they were happy she was alive.

_I guess miracles do come true. _Shane thought. _Amber's alive and she was more beautiful than as a little girl._


	24. A New Life: Starter Pokemon

**Chapter 24: A New Life: Starter Pokemon**

"Are they done now?" Shane asked.

"No," Blaine replied.

"Are they done _now_?" Shane asked.

"No," Blaine replied.

"Are they done _**now**_?" Shane asked.

"What makes you think they would be done just one second before I just said they're not?" Blaine replied.

"Well you try not getting bored after sitting in a dark room for ten minutes while staring at a wall!" Shane said. "I mean, I counted forty-two dust bunnies and twelve by thirteen rows of ceiling tiles already!"

The three of them sat idly as they waited for the awakening of the clones. Because Amber was in there and uncovered they had turned around and faced the metal wall. They had been doing this for about ten minutes and was making Charlie anxious.

He was so close to getting his dream Pokemon that he was burning up inside, the suspense of seeing the clone of Charmander awake killing him. Charlie had never wanted anything in his life so bad as to get a Pokemon like this and to top it off Amber had been cloned too. Just the sheer shock of Shane's plan working without a hitch and a bonus of seeing their best friend alive…Charlie could hardly think straight. Unlike Shane he hadn't been mentally prepared to do useless calculations of dust and tiles. Charlie had just felt so anxious to ask Amber what happened and to get his first Pokemon.

Charlie looked past Amber's vat and to the Charmander clone's to see the most stunning thing ever.

In the liquid the Pokemon clone floated in, its tail's tip lit on fire.

"Wow," Charlie exclaimed.

Charlie remembered a Charmander's tail flame was the source of its life energy. It was beautiful to see his life-force just activate like that. Not only that but even more shocking was that Charmandertwo's tail lit up while fully submerged in liquid. That was impressive.

Then, Charlie saw Charmandertwo's eyes open.

_They're so pretty. _Charlie thought.

The Pokemon's eyes were not merely blue but an intense sapphire color that were as bright as stars at night.

Then another thought occurred to him.

"Guys they're awake!" Charlie said.

Blaine and Shane whirled around to see the sight.

Not only had Charmandertwo opened it's eyes but so had Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Amber(two) (Charlie couldn't think of Amber as merely a clone).

Blaine ran out of the room, for what purpose Charlie was not concerned with at the moment. Charlie rushed to the front of Charmandertwo's vat and Shane ran to Bulbasaurtwo's vat. Charlie saw Charmandertwo's head force through the permeable base of the vat until he had crawled out onto the floor.

"Char," Charmandertwo cried and looked around at its new environment.

The smell of something burning hit Charlie, being so close to Charmandertwo. It had a strange hit to it probably because of whatever fuel made Charmandertwo's tail forever burn but much like anything else on fire.

Charlie examined the markings on Charmandertwo, the markings only a clone would have. A marking splotch was on its bald head and horizontal stripes ran down the Charmander copy's back, tail and arms. Charlie carefully picked Charmandertwo up and hoisted him directly in front of his face. It was moist from the liquid in the tank but it felt a bit scaly.

"Squirtle," the Squirtle copy cried as it crawled on the floor.

Squirtletwo stood straight up on two hind legs, its shell shining even in the low light. It looked curiously at Charlie almost like it was trying to remember who he was.

"Saur!" the Bulbasaur copy yelled energetically.

Charlie's nostrils were immediately filled with not only the burning of Charmandertwo's tail but Bulbasaurtwo's pollen within its bulb. It smelled like walking out into a meadow in the springtime.

Shane petted the Grass-type Pokemon, stroking the flower bulb on its back down to its ovular head as the clone walked around, curious of its surroundings. Bulbasaurtwo looked up at Shane and smiled and then to the Squirtle clone. They seemed to communicate as Squirtletwo shook its head.

"Charmander?" the little Fire-type growled cutely as Charlie held it.

"Oooooh, your so cuuuute," Charlie said.

Charmandertwo seemed to smile and nod like it understood what Charlie had said.

"Isn't this the coolest?" Shane said. "I mean…first Pokemon that are beyond our wildest dreams and now we find out Amber's alive with a new body and is our age. What luck, am I right?"

"I know," Charlie said. "It seems all our ill-fortune was leading to this moment so we could have more than any person ever had."

"Look!" Shane yelled and pointed to Amber's vat.

Charlie looked to see Amber's long blue hair forcing its way out of the permeable gray of the vat. Then came Amber's head and for the first time in seven years Charlie realized just how pretty Amber's eyes were. They were like his Charmandertwo's, sapphire in color.

Then Charlie peaked to see the rest of Amber's human body crawl out. Amber looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. Her body now was still a bit pale but not as much and had a beautiful warm glow to it. Charlie had to turn away as Amber looked around in the building, on her knees, her eyes looked like they were trying to adjust to light.

Blaine then entered the building with a brown blanket.

"What?" Amber said. "Where am I?"

_I was dead. _Amber thought. _I have to be dead just like the rest of my friends. But this isn't death is it?_

"Your home," she heard a familiar voice say.

Amber looked up, her vision still hazy, to see a familiar set of sharp yellow hair that was longer than she remembered it was, green eyes, and a boyish face descend upon her.

Amber hadn't realized she no clothes on until Shane hugged her.

_Boy he's stronger than I thought too. _Amber thought.

Amber's cheeks became red from embarrassment when she realized this and Shane had hugged her. But that was trivial at the moment. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought she would see Shane again and never had she thought he would welcome her as warmly as this. And where Shane was Charlie was not far behind.

"Oh…Shane…I thought I'd never see you again," Amber said.

Amber began crying and she didn't care who saw it. Amber was in fact home now. That was all that mattered and for a second the thought of her Pokemon clone friends' death didn't bother her as much.

Then Amber looked over to see Charmandertwo in Charlie's arms, to see Bulbasaurtwo on Shane's back while he was kneeling down to hug her, and Squirtletwo looking around the building then to Amber.

Amber's eyes began adjusting to the light and she saw Charlie very well for the first time in seven years. She was shocked to see he was a teenager.

Charlie's brown bowl-shaped hair had grown longer. Charlie was now a very handsome young man who had a serious, mature expression about him.

Amber drew back a little bit to see teenage Shane was muscular with his blond hair even longer and more hair spikes than the eight year old kid Amber remembered. He had grown more mature but he still had that innocent, happy look about him.

What surprised Amber as well was that they were both in Team Rocket uniforms.

Amber looked down at herself to see that she was a teenager before. In her Remember Place time was non-existent but Amber was shocked to see she had grown normally into a teen.

"I thought we were gone forever guys," Amber said to her Pokemon friends.

"_Same here," _Squirtletwo said.

Shane heard a voice in his head. It was a feminine voice that seemed to emanate from the Squirtle with two stripes on its head and circle markings on its shell.

"Say what?!" Shane yelled.

"_She said that agreed with Amber," _a boyish voice emanated from Charmandertwo.

"Ah!" Charlie said. "You can talk?!"

He dropped Charmandertwo in sheer surprise. When Charmandertwo landed on the floor his flaming tail burnt through the glass of the vat he came from and blue liquid poured out.

"_Yes," _Amber's voice then came from Amber. _"For some reason the five of us can use telepathy."_

"Wow," Charlie said.

Shane was too stunned to speak. He took his arms off Amber, grabbed Bulbasaurtwo, and held his body in front of his face.

"So your able to use telepathy too?" Shane asked.

"_On days that end in y," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"This. Is. AWESOME." Shane said and placed Bulbasaurtwo on the floor.

"_Awesome," _Charrmandertwo said matter-of-factly_. "A-w-e-s-o-m-e. Awesome."_

"_Way to go braniac," _Squirtletwo said._ "You gave them a spelling lesson. Could you ever tone the mister I'm-to-serious-to-have-fun-and-have-to-show-how-big-a-brain-I-have attitude?"_

Shane stared at Bulbasauartwo. He saw the horizontal stripes on his legs, the sharp stripes just to the side of his eyes like make-up that he shared with Squirtletwo. Shane looked deeply at the sky-blue body and bright green flower bulb and this time knowing it could use telepathy. He was speechless.

"Five?" Charlie asked.

"Mewtwo," Charmandertwo said.

"Aw," Charlie replied. "How did you know these Pokemon Amber? You were all in separate vats."

"We just appeared to each other one day," Amber said. "I think how we communicated was because of the telepathy we all had."

"_Okay,"_ Bulbasaurtwo said. _"So we're outside? Cool! I'm going to be the strongest Pokemon in the world now!"_

Squirtletwo chuckled to Shane's surprise.

"_Careful,"_ she said. _"You still haven't even learned Vine Whip!"_

"_I'll learn the best move in the world one day!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"You think Vine Whip is the coolest move ever?" Shane asked the Pokemon.

"I sure do!" he said.

"I love all Grass-type moves, and I'm in love with Vine Whip!" Shane said.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo stared each other in the eyes, their mouths gaping open, and suddenly Shane could feel like he found his soul mate.

"You're the coolest Pokemon ever," Shane said.

"You're the coolest human ever," Bulbasaurtwo said.

And that's where their friendship started.

Squirtletwo sat and watched the human walk in. He had a balding head with white hair left. Amber had never shown him before, only Shane and Charlie.

He wrapped a brown blanket around Amber's body and she held on to it.

"Come to my car," the man said. "I am taking you home Amber."

Amber nodded and walked outside with the Shane, Charlie, Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo following her.

Squirtletwo wondered why Amber had to wear that. All throughout the time they spent together she had seen Amber in a white dress and then she came out into this world wearing nothing.

Squirtletwo looked to her friends as she worried. She may tease Char about his serious and intellectual attitude and Bulby about how he planned to be the strongest Pokemon in the world but they knew she needed them.

"_What do you think is going to happen to us?" _Squirtletwo asked as they walked.

"_I'll become the strongest in the world," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"_Nothing bad Squirts," _Charmandertwo said. _"Don't worry because it will be fine. We have Amber with us and her friends."_

"_But what about Mewtwo?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"_He'll be out soon," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"If we came out good ol' Mew will just like us."_

"_But when and how is the question," _Charmandertwo said.

Blaine opened the door in his car for them as Amber, Shane, and Charlie stepped in. Blaine motioned for Squirtletwo and her friends to come in as well. Bulbasaurtwo and Charmandertwo hopped in at the same time, Charmandertwo directing his tail directly in front of himself so as not to burn anything.

Blaine drove the car in the sand on the beach and made a left turn. Squirtletwo sat next to Amber, a bit frightened at the prospect of meeting new people in what appeared to be years.

Charlie and Charmandertwo were talking like two old friends in a very mature, calm conversation that sounded interesting and Bulbasaurtwo and Shane were acting like he had never stopped being seven years old.

Squirtletwo clung to Amber.

"Why isn't Mewtwo with us?" she said. "He should be with us Amber!"

"Yeah guys," Amber said. "Why is Mewtwo not here with us?"

Shane and Charlie explained how they got Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Charmandertwo out and not Mewtwo. They explained their plan in deep detail of how they carried it out. Squirtletwo was confused at first but relieved they just didn't decide to leave Mewtwo there.

"Blaine?" Amber asked after Blaine introduced himself. "How do I have telepathy? Why did I not die and instead meet my friends?"

Blaine explained how her Dad drew Amber's consciousness out of her body and then constructed a new body for her, almost identical to her old one but her brain was given superhuman psychic abilities.

"That's so weird," Amber said. "Was I considered dead or alive?"

"Halfway between," Blaine said. "You walked the border between the two."

"_But what are we?"_ Squirtletwo asked.

Everyone had their eyes on Squirtletwo now. Her question was a provocative one.

"_We know we're copies of original Pokemon," _she said. _"But we're different as well. What are we?"_

Blaine sighed and then answered her question.

"You are not just copies but super clones," Blaine said. "Your DNA was taken from an original Squirtle as Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Mewtwo were. However, your DNA was altered so that you were stronger, better and had more and better abilities than the originals. Psychic powers was just were one. Each of hold a power so much more advanced than any Pokemon. Team Rocket was going to use you as armies within one being along with Amber to use her psychic powers to control and maintain yours."

Squirtletwo was shocked. She thought she was no different than the original but now she knew that was no longer true. Squirtletwo looked down upon herself in a different way now, she looked at herself for the first time in her life as dangerous.

Amber went on to explain that she was killed by someone who said that her death would lead to the creation of the strongest Pokemon in the world. Now she knew exactly what Surge meant. (Amber left out exactly who killed her.)

"_So we are to be the strongest Pokemon in the entire world?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"_YES!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"I knew we would! I knew I would!"_

"_It sounds like you were right all along Bulbasaurtwo," _Squirtletwo said. _"We are something special."_

They stopped in front of a large mansion, a mansion Squirtletwo recognized.

"_This is your old home Amber," _Squirtletwo said.

"_We were just about to arrive here before Shane and Charlie brought us out," _Amber said.

"Hurry into the mansion," Blaine said. "No one except Dr. Fuji himself is allowed into the part of it that serves as his home. Hurry in before anyone sees you."

All of did as Blaine said and Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo jumped onto the sand. Squirtletwo recognized this as one of the first memories Amber had brought them to, one of a beach. Squirtletwo and her friends followed the man called Blaine into the mansion and opened the doors.

Everything was as Amber had showed them it was.

Red velvet carpet, statues of Mew the Pokemon Mewtwo had been copied from, along with coffee tables, couches, and chairs.

"So where's Daddy?" Amber asked.

"Sulking at the dinner table," Blaine said with an annoyed look on his face.

"Why?" Amber asked.

"_Because he thinks you and the rest of us are dead," _Charmandertwo said.

All eyes were on him now that he said that.

"_I mean, if _we _thought we were gone how much more does everyone else believe that?" _Char replied.

Everyone seemed to agree.

"I'm going to go get dressed," Amber said. "Don't go into the kitchen without me, okay?"

"You don't have any clothes that fit you," Charlie said. "You outgrew them all."

"Right," Amber said, yanking her lip back.

"Not everything," Blaine said. "Your Dad was so confident his cloning experiment would work and accurately guessed you would be between thirteen and fifteen years old when it did that he bought an entire wardrobe of clothing."

Amber smiled.

"Good ol' Dad knows exactly what to do," Amber said. "Just wait right here and don't move a muscle."

Amber then raced up some stairs and disappeared into an upstairs hallway.

"_We're going to meet Amber's Dad! Cool!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Not cool," Blaine said.

"_Not cool?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Not cool," Blaine repeated. "Fuji is distrustful of experimental Pokemon like you guys. I remember him telling me how much he hated seeing Amber associate with you guys over the seven years it took you guys to be able to survive on the outside. He has interest in you for the joy of scientific research but hates the thought of you befriended his daughter because you are unnatural clones."

Squirtletwo felt astonished at Blaine's words. Who would be so cruel as to hate them for being clones?

"I do not think that way," Blaine said. "As a gym leader I see the strength and emotional fiber of every Pokemon but not everyone thinks that way. Just don't tell Amber that about her father."

Before Squirtletwo could reply that she wouldn't Amber came running down the stairs. She no longer had on a brown blanket but a white blouse with blue jeans and her hair in ringlets. It made her look mature.

_Wow. _Squirtletwo thought. _Amber aged. I never thought I'd see the day. _

"So what do you think?" Amber asked.

"_I'm personally wondering why humans like to where clothes," _Squirtletwo said.

"_Very nice," _Charmandertwo said.

"_Meh…" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"You look very pretty," Blaine said.

Charlie nodded at Blaine's words.

"What about you Shane?" Amber asked.

When Amber looked at Shane Squirtletwo could detect the hint of attraction with a slight bat of the eyes.

Squirtletwo looked at Shane's face to see he was blushing with a dopey look on his face like he was retarded.

"Uuuuuuuuuh…" Shane's voice trailed off, reminding Squirtletwo of Shane's crush he had on Amber.

"Shane quit your moaning," Charlie said. "I know you don't care but you don't have to be rude."

"_Charlie's oblivious to it," _Amber said privately.

"_All boys are," _Squirtletwo replied.

"Let's go guys," Amber said and headed to the kitchen.

They all followed, except Shane who basically looked to nervous to walk. He had to take baby steps to walk with them.

Squirtletwo went into the kitchen with the others.

Amber's Dad's face was buried in his arms on the table.

Amber could hear him crying until his arms were completely soaked with tears. He still had his lab coat on.

Amber lightly walked up to her father while he was crying and touched his shoulder. He stopped crying.

"Um…hi Daddy," she said.

Her father turned around. His eyes met hers. Her Dad's hair and goatee had grayed like an old man's despite his age.

"Amber…?" her Daddy said.

"It's me," she said and hugged him.

He hugged her back.

"Amber," he said. "Your alive. But how?"

"Um…" Amber heard Shane say.

Amber let go of her father for him to see Blaine, Shane, Charlie, Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Charmandertwo.

"What, but how?" Amber's Dad said.

Charlie and Shane then explained how they stole the Pokemon and Amber from Team Rocket.

"You boys really pulled it off," Fuji said. "Now what do you planned to do?"

"Well…," Charlie said.

"We were wondering if could…" Shane said.

"Have them," they said.

"Have them?" he father asked. "Why of course! I hated the idea of Team Rocket ruling the world! You can have any one you like!"

Her Dad pulled a Pokeball out of his lab coat.

"I'm sorry but I only have one spare Pokeball," Amber's father said.

"We have our own," Charlie said.

Charlie and Shane pulled out Pokeballs from their uniform pockets. Amber recognized them as the Pokeballs their parents gave them before they were killed.

"You may," Fuji said.

"_Wait what?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"Well…see…that's how it is," Charlie explained. "When people own Pokemon they put them in little Pokeballs so that they can keep them there and proclaim their ownership of the Pokemon."

Charmandertwo looked confused.

"_Why not?"_ Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"Anything for you Shane!"_

"_What will you do with us?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"Do you know what Pokemon trainers do with Pokemon?" Charlie said.

"_Yes," _Charmandertwo replied. _"We fight using our special abilities against other Pokemon."_

Charlie nodded.

"You told me how you wanted understand human culture, learn all you could, and gain experience," Charlie said. "Pokemon battling helps the human grow closer to his Pokemon. Will you be my friend?"

Charmandertwo looked thoughtful at the prospect, then nodded.

"_Alright," _Charmandertwo replied. _"You are my friend."_

Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo lined up side-by-side. Bulbasaurtwo and Charmandertwo looked happy but thoughtful as well. Squirtletwo looked kind of gloomy that she knew she wouldn't be picked by either one of them.

Amber turned to her Dad and took the Pokeball from his hand.

"Thanks Dad but I'll be taking that," Amber said.

"But Amber why?" he father asked.

"I'm going to pick a Pokemon," Amber said. "Remember how trainers in the Kanto region get to choose their first Pokemon to be a Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur? This is that but instead of Professor Oak its you who provided us these Pokemon."

"But you can start out with another Pokemon," her Daddy said. "Any Pokemon. I'm a very wealthy man and I can order you any…you don't have to choose from one of these _clones_."

"No Daddy," Amber said. "I'm going to choose from these clones."

Amber walked over to where her Pokemon friends were lining up. She smiled at Squirtletwo.

"I've been waiting to say this my whole life," Shane said. "I'll choose the Grass-type Bulbasaurtwo."

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo cried energetically.

Shane pressed the button in the middle of the Pokeball. A red ray of light extended from the Pokeball when it opened, hit Bulbasaurtwo, and brought him into the Pokeball and closed.

Squirtletwo wondered what it was like in a Pokeball. She wondered how it worked and what it was made of.

"I choose the Fire-type Pokemon Charmandertwo," Charlie said.

"Char!" Charmandertwo cried.

He pressed the button and just as it happened with Bulbasaurtwo the ball opened, brought out a beam of light, and brought Charmandertwo inside it.

Now it was her turn.

Squirtletwo waited anxiously for her turn.

Amber looked down at her and smiled.

"_Are you ready?" _Amber asked Squirtletwo privately.

"_Do it," _Squirtletwo said. _"And we can battle and have all sorts of fun any time you want."_

"I choose the Water-type, Squirtletwo," Amber said.

She pressed the middle button, the Pokeball opened, and it captured her. Squirtletwo was now inside the Pokeball. The shape of what she was in made her feel dormant and calm. It made her kind of curl up to the solid environment around her body.

"_Come out whenever you like," _Amber said.

"_Don't worry," _Squirtletwo said. _"I will."_

Squirtletwo got comfortable and conformed to feeling of dormancy and stillness the Pokeball's environment gave her and dozed off to sleep.


	25. The Secret of Missingno

**Chapter 25: The Secret of Missingno**

**Thought this story couldn't get more twisted? This explains where Mew gather, why Missingno is found near Cinnabar Island in Red/Blue versions, and why Missingno has so many different forms. For all you who know Missingno is really just a couple empty 39 spots in the games just forget the facts and enjoy this surprising chapter, creepy though if you know all the strange stuff that happened in Red/Blue.**

"So Mommy left you?" Amber asked.

"Yes sweetie," Dr. Fuji said. "Mommy left because she thought that you couldn't be brought back but you were. She thought that all this hard work had gone to waste and so with a husband who was obsessed with bringing his daughter back and no children she left Daddy. But she was the one who was wrong."

"Where do you think she went?" Amber asked.

"I don't know," Dr. Fuji replied. "All I know was she left me to never return. In all honesty I don't know if she would have accepted you if she had seen you alive again as a clone."

Amber looked sad at that prospect and Fuji saw pain in her eyes.

"Don't worry Amber," Fuji said. "I love you and that's all that matters for now."

"Do you think she will ever come back?"

What Fuji wanted to tell his daughter was the truth which was no but he knew that would only make her feel worse. Amber may have been fourteen but she had the mind of a seven year old. Although, he knew his daughter well enough to know she would still be an innocent little girl.

"I don't know," Fuji said. "Good night Amber."

"Daddy," Amber said. "When Mewtwo gains consciousness will you bring him home with us? Please, try and get him out of Team Rocket's hands and bring him here. Okay Daddy?"

_The last thing I need is another putrid clone running around influencing my daughter. _Fuji thought. _Someone really should make another mark along with all the others on their bodies' that reads _For Research Only. Do Not Grow Attached To.

"I sure will try," Fuji said. "I'm sure he'll try and come to you."

"Good night Daddy," Amber said and laid her head on the pillow.

Fuji walked out the door of his daughter's room.

_Thank goodness Mew's clone forgot all about Amber and the other little monsters. _Fuji said. _The sooner Giovanni takes that thing away the better._

_Come to me my pretty. _Giovanni said.

It woke inside Amber.

_Voice of Giovanni. _It thought. _Voice of master._

"_What?" _The human girl it was within cried. _"What are you?"_

_Master Giovanni calls. _

The being within Amber gained control of all body systems. Suddenly the girl did not feel in control of her own body anymore but felt totally under the being's control. She began to change shape. Her body, under its guidance, became a Mew. But no ordinary Mew, oh no…this Mew's body was light blue instead of pink and had eyes that were no innocent and blue but black and malicious.

"_Let me go! Let me go!" _the girl cried frantically.

_Teleport! _the thing said.

It focused the psychic power of this body to find his master, Giovanni. It saw Giovanni and sensed his life force even though he was very far away.

Then it was there in front of Giovanni. He was in front of Giovanni and his co-ruler, Deoxys.

"Hello Missingno," a strange red and blue greeted it. "It is good to see our loyal servant again."

"_Greetings my masters," _it said and bowed to them.

"I take that you're alive means that Amber is as well," who Amber could tell was Giovanni said. "How did that happen?"

"_The super-clones were stolen, sir," _the thing said. _"Stolen buy two Team Rocket cadets. This girl was stolen from you along with them."_

"_Stop telling him that!" _Amber yelled.

_Silence foolish girl._

Amber felt angry now, angry at whatever this Missingno thing was. She hated it now and didn't even think about it being inside of her. She focused any telepathic powers she could feel within herself and concentrated them into a mental blast.

"_Get out of me!" _Amber yelled.

_Ah! _

She could feel the Missingno thing's place in the throne of her mind forcefully ejected out. Now Amber was in charge of her own body again.

Suddenly Amber's body stopped being Mew and changed to her human one again in her white silky nightgown. She fell to the floor on her knees and thankful that she landed on soft carpet.

"What is this Missingno?" the man Amber knew to be the Team Rocket leader asked.

"_The girl's will is stronger than mine-" _Missingno said before Amber mentally punched him in the face.

"Listen up Giovanni!" Amber said and picked herself up off the floor.

"I won't allow what's happening to me continue on any further! I don't know what happened to my body during the cloning experiment but it won't stay there long!"

"Missingno was made to enter unto you to keep you under control if you ever rebelled against us," Deoxys said. "We would not allow a Pokemon that we thought wasn't strong enough to control you be put inside you."

"_Control this!" _Amber yelled.

With every inch of her psychic ability she attacked the Missingno thing in her mind.

"_Oh no you don't!" _Missingno yelled back in telepathy.

It attacked back. Half of Amber's body suddenly became a shadowy silhouette that looked like a ghostly shadow while the other side of herself stayed like herself. From the borderline of her body that was where the two met spouted tiny arcs of blue electricity.

"_AAAAWWWW!" _both Amber and Missingno screamed in telepathy.

"_Give it up prissy!" _Missingno yelled. _"Your body was made for me to control it in case you got to unruly!"_

"_No! This is _**MY**_ body and mind!" _Amber said. _"Now. Get. Out!"_

As the struggle of mental warfare continued the blue electric arcs became a shade of dark purple. Then Amber found it within herself giving it even more power against Missingno. Suddenly more of Amber's body became engrossed in the shadowy ghost that Missingno's part was.

But when that happened Amber suddenly had a vision.

She saw through Missingno's point of view.

It was long ago, and to Amber's surprise revealed he had a life before taking control of her body. It was a Mew that had lived its days happily skipping around near his home in what Amber recognized as the Berry Forest with other Mew.

_So more Mew actually live there. _Amber thought.

It lived talking to other Mew, sneaking up on humans and Pokemon without being noticed, and flying around the world having fun. Then suddenly coming into the sight of Missingno was this creepy guy in a black robe. He smiled at the Mew and said…

"I know you like to fight," he said. "Join me and we can be the most powerful trainers there ever was."

The regular Mew Missingno used to be shook its head.

The creepy man threw out a Pokeball and out came a Gengar.

"Gar," it cried.

The two Pokemon fought immediately, Missingno using a blast rainbow colored psychic energy from its hands that Amber recognized as a Psybeam. Gengar seemed to disappear and using its abilities Psychic abilities Missingno could sense Gengar behind it. However, Gengar was so fast that before Missingno could do anything from Gengar's direction came a beam of yellow.

This made Missingno go into a delirious state that made it see illusions. Suddenly Missingno was inside a spherical room where it was forced to curl up into a ball. Amber guessed where it was, inside a Pokeball.

Over time Missingno was trained under the robed man who had strange and dark powers in himself. This training combined with the imbuing of the Mew with dark powers caused it to change its color from pink to blue, its eyes from blue and innocent to black and horridly creepy, and its powers from Psychic-type to Ghost-type. Missingno as Mew now learned Transform that made it shape shift to anything. The man who wore the black robe had two Ghastly that's powers he altered with his own and the Ghastly each became a horrid white, lifeless looking human hand.

One day the man used the Gengar, the Ghastly that looked like horrible hands, a Muk, and Mew to attack a little town called Lavender Town. He had declared himself ruler of the world and wanted everyone to bow down to his rule or die. They all used their powers to destroy as much as they possibly could and would let no one stand in their way until a boy with brown hair, blue eyes, about twelve years old or so faced him.

The boy had sent out a Dragonite, Charizard, Magneton, Starmie, and Exeggutor.

Charizard were locked in a deadly battle with Muk punching Charizard with its poisonous fists and Charizard breathing blasts of fire on Muk.

One Ghastly that resembled a human hand fired a Shadow Ball and it hit Magneton but the other pale handed Ghastly got hit and blasted backward by Golduck's huge wave of water it had sent forth. Then Golduck kept hitting the white hand Ghastly with telekinetic attacks.

Gengar was locked in an aerial battle with the boy's Dragonite. Gengar threw at Dragonite attacks such as Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb and Dragonite retaliated with rushing head on into Gengar (Dragon Rush) and breathing strong gusts of energy (Dragon Breath).

Missingno was throwing blasts of shadows of itself that seemed to come alive (Night Shade) but Exeggutor kept using its telekinetic power to throw them to the side like rag dolls.

"Exeggutor, hit that Mew with Grass Knot!" the trainer yelled.

"Tor!" it cried and the leaves growing from the top of its head grew twenty feet taller, wrapped themselves into knotted ropes and grabbed Missingno.

"Mew!" it cried in despair and was pushed thrown down onto the ground.

Missingno laid there, its body broken.

"Change into the Aerodactyl ghost and use Sky Attack!" the robed man ordered.

Mew's appearance altered and changed into the skeleton of a Pokemon Amber recognized as an ancient Pokemon revived from a fossil.

Air began to rush out from the skeleton, pushing the knotted leaves off of it. It began to glow and then rushed at Exeggutor with all its speed.

"Psychic!" the body trainer ordered.

"Tor!" the Pokemon cried.

Its eyes glowed and suddenly the skeleton cracked into pieces. Then Missingno became Mew again but even worse injured this time.

"You always were my weakest Pokemon!" the creepy robed man said. "Why don't you fight better!?"

_This is all my fault. _Missingno thought. _This all my fault I failed my master._

But surrounding Mew his master's other Pokemon began to succumb to the boy trainer's power. Not long after that his Gengar was laying in the remains of mountain, the two White Hands had been beaten so badly they had reverted back to Ghastly, and Muk's body had been scorched black. All except Missingno returned themselves to their Pokeball.

"No!" the creepy robed man said. "This is impossible!"

"Flamethrower!" the boy ordered.

Charizard then breathed some intense fire on the black robed man.

Missingno then left Lavender Town after he knew his trainer was done for. He left for the beach he loved so much on Berry Forest, not far from where Amber used to live on Cinnabar Island. But it just didn't feel the same as all the other Mew were afraid of Missingno, sensing its strange power that was stronger than their's.

The Mew, now an outcast, left to the beach on Cinnabar Island it had liked to stroll down before it was enslaved by the robed man and waited for while its friends gathered in Berry Forest. But it wasn't the same. One day it was noticed by a very strange Pokemon on the beach: Deoxys.

Missingno told Deoxys its story and they had a heart-to-heart which convinced Missingno to work for him and his ally Giovanni. Missingno was given the assignment of transforming into the shade ghost (a transformation the robed man and Missingno had made like the Aerodactyl ghost) to possess Ambertwo's body and make sure she does not get out of hand once she is awakened.

Since Missingno had changed into an entirely different Pokemon than Mew and could change its body to things that weren't even real it had been given the name "missing number" indicating its missing data and number in the Kanto Pokedex every was familiar with.

And that's when the vision ended and Missingno in its shade ghost form, looking face to face with Amber.

"_They're not your friends and will abuse you worse than your last trainer did," _is all Amber said telepathically before she left.

She focused on the little part of Missingno that still was inside of her. Amber put all of her concentration into Mew's Teleport and appeared in her bedroom, Missingno's power fading fast from her body.

Amber quickly grabbed the Pokeball on nightstand beside her bed, made it grow bigger by pressing the button and pressed it again so it opened up and Squirtletwo came out.

"_Hi Amber," _Squirtletwo said.

"No time to explain!" Amber said, grabbed Squirtletwo, and ran downstairs to where Blaine was.

_Blaine will know what to do._

Missingno had not felt this bad since he had lost to the battle against the boy all those decades ago. He looked at Deoxys and Giovanni, his masters.

"Do you know where she left to?" Giovanni asked.

"_No," _Missingno admitted.

"Then we have failed to obtain the super clones," Deoxys replied and turned to Giovanni. "Call the Team Rocket combat unit and tell them what had happened."

"Right," Giovanni replied.

"We should probably also move the lab so that the same thing doesn't happen with Mewtwo," Deoxys also said.

"I will do that," Giovanni said. "On my way out I will also contact Dr. Fuji and see if he knows anything about this. I know exactly where to put the lab. Missingno, if want to make yourself useful you should travel Kanto and see what information you can get on the clones. If you find any other useful mechanism to get them back you may do so."

With a heavy heart at failing his masters Missingno looked back up to them both with a serious expression.

"_Yes masters."_


	26. Kanto Gym Saga: Mind-Meld Training

End of Ambertwo Saga Beginning of Kanto Gym Saga

**Chapter 26: Mind-Meld Training: Botanical Power **

"And then I used what little power I had left from Missingno being in my body that I teleported back here," Shane heard Amber say.

"Interesting," Blaine replied. "Honestly Amber, I have no recollection of anything like that being agreed to be put in your body. I'm sorry something so awful would happen."

"_A Pokemon changing type and having abilities as unheard of as that?" _Charmandertwo said. _"I find it hard to see that happening. Whatever source of power that Mew's trainer had…it sounds totally unnatural."_

All of them, except for Dr. Fuji who had left early to go oversee the lab being moved to New Island, stood on the outside porch of mansion around a fine table.

The sun was still new so it was about seven o'clock in the morning. Blaine sat in the chair beside the table, Amber standing beside him, Charlie sitting on the opposite side of Blaine, Shane standing on wood rail with Bulbasaurtwo standing on all fours beside him, and Squirtletwo and Charmandertwo watching Amber with great concern.

"Well whatever the case Team Rocket knows you and your friends are alive," Blaine replied. "That is the most dangerous thing by far."

This made Shane very anxious. He had already planned to use Bulbasaurtwo in Pokemon battles but now it seemed they may have to make a last stand with what power they had. He looked at Bulbasaurtwo in hope that what power he had they could defend themselves.

"What do you think's going to happen Blaine?" Amber said, her eyes beginning to have tears come from them. "Do you…do you think we'll have to leave forever? Never come back? What will Mewtwo do without us?"

"I am not sure what we can do," Blaine said. "Giovanni will no doubt pursue after your relentlessly but what power they can exercise is limited. They don't want to draw the public's attention to Team Rocket or the authorities will likely get involved."

"_I say if they show their ugly faces up here we show them how powerful we clones really are!" _Squirtletwo said and mashed her fist into her open hand.

"We would have to avoid a confrontation with them at all costs Squirtletwo," Blaine said. "Giovanni won't waste time with soldiers whose Pokemon aren't strong enough to take on a super clone."

"But what are we going to do then?!" Amber asked. "What?!"

Blaine got up out of his seat. Shane's eyes were drawn to his brother Charlie as he looked down in pure strategic thought.

"Well the best thing we can do is act like we don't know," Blaine said. "Giovanni won't give this information out to many at all. Only his closest will he inform of his failure to capture the strongest Pokemon on Earth. All your father and I will have to do is pretend like we don't know and that will be enough for now."

"Blaine when I was teleported by Missingno to Giovanni he was not alone," Amber said. "With him was this big red and blue Pokemon that Missingno addressed was just as powerful as Giovanni in his position in Team Rocket. It looked really weird, like some mutant alien thing, that I know for a fact is a Pokemon. He was referred to as Deoxys."

Blaine smiled.

"Addressing a Pokemon with as much power as himself," Blaine said. "That's just something Giovanni doesn't do. I don't know what that is Amber but then again not even some his closest people know what Giovanni is up to."

Blaine put his lab coat on that he hung on the chair he sat in.

"Now I've got to get to New Island with your Dad," Blaine said. "While I'm gone you kids and Pokemon stay out of trouble and don't get worried."

Blaine ran around to his boat at the back of the mansion to leave for New Island.

Charlie looked down at Charmandertwo.

"I'm going to go look into this," Charlie said. "I'll dig into what Blaine has of the Team Rocket archives. I'm going to his house not far from the playground. Want to come with me?"

Charmandertwo nodded.

"_We'll see you guys in a little while," _Charmandertwo said.

Charmandertwo then looked to Squirtletwo, her glossy shell shining in morning sun.

"_Want to come?" _He asked.

Squirtletwo nodded and followed them.

Shane looked over to Bulbasaurtwo and their eyes met. They each understood exactly what they said in their eyes.

"_Let's go power up," _Bulbasaurtwo telepathically told Shane.

Bulbasaurtwo and Shane jumped off the porch rail onto the floor. They both stared directly at Amber. Amber looked a bit confused when they smiled at her.

"_What?" _Amber asked telepathically.

"Don't worry Amber," Shane said. "If Team Rocket ever shows up Bulbasaurtwo and I will make sure they're sent home packing."

Amber looked doubtful.

"Shane it will take more than you and-" Amber stopped speaking when Shane grabbed her arms right beneath her shoulders.

"Amber we have your back on this one," Shane said. "We always have. I'm just glad you're alive again. When you died a little part of me left with you and now its back again."

"I'm Ambertwo, not exactly Amber," she replied. "I'm a copy."

"Not to me," Shane said and drew his head to Amber's. "To me you're the same old Amber. The same Amber remembers how much fun we had together, how I always told you I wanted my own Grass-type Pokemon, and…and do you think kissing Amber or Ambertwo would be any different to you?"

Amber blushed at the mention of that one kiss Shane gave her. Shane couldn't help but feel satisfied at the blush she made. It made him know she remembered it like yesterday.

"I guess it would be the same," Amber said. "You know, I'm sort of glad death struck me. Just so I would be alive as a clone with more friends. I just wish Mewtwo was us like Char, Bulby, and Squirts was."

"He will," Shane said. "And he can choose if he wants a trainer or not."

"For now Shane I just don't want to start kissing you again," Amber said. "My heart isn't whole without Mewtwo, so I can't give my heart to you. And with Team Rocket knowing we're alive I don't Mewtwo ever will come."

"Don't worry about Team Rocket," Shane said with smile. "Bulbasaurtwo and I will take care of it. And once we know that you, me, and the Pokemon we can carry on with our lives. Okay? Don't worry 'bout a thing. Just hang on cause every little thing…gonna to be alright!"

"_Don't worry 'bout a thing!" _Bulbasaurtwo chimed in. _"Cause every little thing…gonna be alright!"_

"Rise up this morning'!" Shane sang. "Smiled with the risin' sun!"

"_Three little Pidgey!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Pitch by my doorstep!"_

"What are you singing?!" Amber laughed.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo jumped right onto the flat wood rail and right over onto the sand with him. They ran off in the distance, headed toward the grassy field Shane knew by heart, where the sandy beach became lush green with saw grass and berry trees. His brother, Amber, and himself played there as little kids.

"_Where are you two going?" _Amber said to both of them with telepathy.

"Singing sweet songs!" Shane and Bulbasaurtwo sung, one with speech, one with telepathy. "This is my message to you-ou-ou!"

"Don't worry 'bout a thing!" they both sung. "Cause every little thing, is gonna be alright!"

Bulbasaurtwo jumped into the field of short grass. He could sense the beauty of nature beneath his feet and surrounding him. He could especially feel it because of his bulb. Bulbasaurtwo's flowerbulb on his back seemed to unite him with the nature around him as he began to feel himself actually apart of the open green field. Besides that, Bulbasaurtwo remembered that Amber had brought them here in her Remember Place.

_I am the nature. _Bulbasaurtwo thought.

Shane ran by him, his bare feet colliding with the grass right beside Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Shane!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I remember this place!"_

"I know that," Shane said. "Okay, ready to start training?"

Bulbasaurtwo nodded with enthusiasm.

"Okay!" Shane said looking around. "Where's a Pokemon we can fight?"

Bulbasaurtwo walked right beside Shane as they walked through the field.

Suddenly they stopped.

In front of them was a purple rodent looking Pokemon. It had large ears on both sides of its head that curved into a small head that came down into a large, white buck teeth that looked like it could gnaw through anything. They were just that big, looking like they were two twin teeth that had grown into one. It had a tail, purple like most of its body, ended in a large curl.

When it saw Bulbasaurtwo it growled at him.

"Raaaat!" it seared.

Bulbasaurtwo could tell what message this Pokemon was communicating.

_My territory. Get off or get hurt, Grass-type._

"_I think we found our fight Shane," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Okay, that's a Rattata," Shane said. "This is where Pokemon battling gets serious. You have to attack each other until one of you runs out of energy to fight anymore."

Bulbasaurtwo readied himself. He firmly planted his feet into the grassy ground below and stared directly into the Pokemon's eyes. Its territorial behavior did not phase as I did this, adamant about its ownership of the spot of earth.

"Raaaaaaat," it growled.

It's huge twin, buck fangs that made one mean-looking tooth seemed to sear with ferocity. Its spittle ejected more forcefully from its mouth. Its whiskers twisted in odd directions.

"Bulbasaurtwo, remember to do what I say, okay?" Shane said. "Tell me what you can do."

He nodded. Bulbasaurtwo gave Shane the entirety of his power from training in Amber's Remember Place. As Bulbasaurtwo did this he could kind of feel Shane using what knowledge he already of Pokemon to judge its power.

Bulbasaurtwo readied himself. This was what he had been made for, copied from the original Bulbasaur for. To be strongest Pokemon.

"Bulbasaurtwo tackle it with full force!" Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo got mental feedback from Shane, a sort of mental playback of Bulbasaurtwo's memories of him smashing the stone of the mountain in his training.

"Saur!" He cried and ran full steam at Rattata.

"Ta!" the Pokemon cried and agilely leapt at him.

That leap intimidated Bulbasaurtwo, it was so quick, so sudden, and yet it packed so much power. It would have made some Pokemon back down but know. Bulbasaurtwo didn't run, he kept charging just as fast as he had been.

BAM! The collision was so sudden!

Bulbasaurtwo could feel the skin of his head slam into the body of his opponent! He could feel his brute strength of his sheer force against grinding against the intense speed of Rattata!

They had collided, each one forcing their power against the other. And when they hit each other Rattata was thrown into the air.

"RAAAAAAAAAAA!" it cried as it flew backward thirty feet into the air.

Bulbasaurtwo didn't even see where he the Pokemon landed.

Bulbasaurtwo looked down at his body to see that none of his body had been hurt. He had taken absolutely no damage and he had just delivered a blow that flung a Pokemon so far you couldn't see where it landed. It looked over its body carefully.

"_Did…did I do that?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"You sure did!" Shane said.

The boy human ran over to his Pokemon, knelt beside it, and put his hands on Bulbasaurtwo's bulb.

"You did it!" Shane said.

"_I did it?"_

"Our first battle and you won!" Shane said and started jumping up and down. "Wa-hoo!"

He then began realizing that he had in fact done it. It occurred that by his own force he just sent an opponent flying. He won his first battle by a landslide.

"_Wa-hoo!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled and jumped for joy. _"Yeah we won!"_

"Wasn't that great?!" Shane asked.

"_Yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I knew that my training would pay off one day! And you know what? I feel stronger all of a sudden!"_

"That's because in battles with other Pokemon you get stronger if you win!" Shane said. "You grow stronger by winning!"

Bulbasaurtwo was ecstatic about the news. Now he could really become the strongest Pokemon ever.

"Now let's go get something to eat," Shane said.

"_But I want more battles!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"We'll fight some more after we eat," Shane replied. "We both need to keep our strength up."

Bulbasaurtwo followed Shane to where he said they would eat. He brought him to a grove in the field of trees. They all had the same fruit, blue fruit which Amber had introduced to them as Oran Berries.

Shane jumped onto a low limp of a tree and climb through the tree. While in the tree he plucked eight Oran Berries from branches they hung on. Bulbasaurtwo walked over to them and started eating one.

"Saur," he said with satisfaction.

"Yeah I know," Shane said when he had climbed down.

Shane sat on the ground, his legs spread, holding one Oran Berry in each hand and took a bite out of each one at a time.

"_You know," _Bulbasautwo said. _"Amber actually showed us who you and Charlie were in her Remember Place. I wish I had thought of it sooner that you would want a Grass-type like me."_

The Pokemon clone kept munching on the berries Shane had plucked.

"Yeah," Shane said. "While Amber was gone I was in Team Rocket half my life. Everyday was just more misery I had to endure. I just wish life had come by sooner with you. But you know, better late than never."

"_So what's the deal with putting your lips on Amber?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"Apparently it's kind of special."_

"Well," Shane said. "Amber's an amazing girl and when a boy sees just how special a girl is he likes to do that. I don't know why it really is like that. It's because I like Amber so much I want to kiss "

"_Kind of confusing," _Bulbasaurtwo said and kept eating. _"Anyhow, I love it that you're my friend now."_

"Me too," Shane said.

They finished their lunch and went back to training. They wondered around the field, looking for a Pokemon to battle.

"_Pokemon?" _Bulbasaurtwo called out in telepathy. "_Where are you?"_

"Calling out to them isn't going to help," Shane said.

"_Hey Shane?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"Why do you where shoes and other humans don't?"_

"I just like going barefoot, that's all," Shane replied. "I like to feel the earth beneath my feet. Hey, look!"

Bulbasaurtwo followed where Shane pointed to. Where he pointed to was a brown bird that flew only three feet off the ground. The bird had a short, blunt beak and seemed to pay no mind to Bulbasaurtwo.

"That's a Pidgey," Shane said. "Ready to have another battle?"

"_Sure am!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Okay, use your Tackle just like you did with that Rattata!" Shane commanded.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaurtwo cried and ran full steam at the little flying Pokemon.

"Pidgey?" the thing called as it saw Bulbasaurtwo charging at it.

_What? _the Pidgey communicated.

The Pidgey flew directly at Bulbasaurtwo.

_It won't have any force when it collides with me! _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _This will be easier than I thought!_

When Bulbasaurtwo thought that they would collide he saw the Pidgey's pale underside.

_It wasn't trying to hit me. _Bulbasaurtwo thought. _It was just trying to dodge me._

"Stop Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane said. "It's behind you!"

Bulbasaurtwo came to a screeching halt that cut into the turf of the earth, making gashes in the earth that tore grass off the earth.

"Saur?" he cried and whirled behind him.

His eyes leveled to those of Pidgey's, its wings slightly open so air would rush into it.

"Pidgey, Pidgey, Pidgey?" the Flying-type Pokemon said.

_I've never seen a Pokemon like you before. _It communicated. _You have markings and stripes. I can even sense something different about you that is so odd. What are you?_

"Bulbasaurtwo, go and use Tackle again!" Shane ordered.

"Saur!" He cried and rushed at Pidgey.

"_I am a super clone!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"A copy of the original Bulbasaur Pokemon but stronger!"_

Pidgey looked surprised at Bulbasaurtwo using telepathy. Pidgey then opened its wings as wide as possible.

WHOOSH! Out came a burst of air so forceful it rippled even short grass.

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo cried.

Bulbasaurtwo was carried in the huge rush of air! He was carried two feet off the ground, rolling in midair! The bulb on his back hurt so badly from the wind!

"Bulba," Bulbasaurtwo groaned in pain as his flower bulb on his back hit the ground.

He bounced off of that and landed flat on his stomach. He felt pain all across his body.

"Flying-type attacks like Pidgey's Gust is especially powerful on Grass-types like you!" Shane said. "It's your weakness!"

"_How many other weaknesses do I have?" _Bulbasaurtwo groaned as he got back up on his four feet.

"Um…I know Fire's another. Ice is too," Shane said.

The Pidgey mocked Bulbasaurtwo by laughing at him. Bulbasaurtwo stood his ground again.

"Okay Bulbasaurtwo," Shane said. "Be ready."

"Saur," he growled in agreement.

"Pidgey!" the Flying-type Pokemon cried in excitement.

It flew up into the air as high as its wings could pump. It flew a good ten feet above Bulbasaurtwo, its shadow draping across the ground beneath it. Bulbasaurtwo could see the familiarity of air rushing under Pidgey's. Bulbasaurtwo knew it was preparing for another Gust.

"You have to gather as much force as possible into your bulb on your back Bulbasaurtwo," Shane said. "Just try and concentrate that physical force into the opening of your flower."

"Bulba," he said.

"_Will do Shane," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Saaaaaaaaauuuuuuur," Bulbasaurtwo said as he concentrated sheer force into the opening of his bulb.

Bulbasaurtwo looked up at Pidgey to the Flying-type Pokemon was about to open its wings and unleash another Gust. In spite of fear he readied for Shane's next order.

"Now use Leech Seed!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaurtwo cried.

Bulbasaurtwo willed inside the plant on his back the loosening of a seed! It was at that moment the seed launched with all the force Bulbasaurtwo had stored up! The seed came out to be oval shaped and yellow that fired as fast as a bullet at Pidgey!

"Pidgey!" Pidgey cried as it flung open its wings.

The gust of wind was directed straight at Bulbasaurtwo and hit the Leech Seed. The seed to Bulbasaurtwo's surprise had more force behind it than the Gust and went straight through the huge rush of air.

"Pidgey!" the Pidgey cried in pain as it was hit right beneath its wing.

It was hit with such great force that it tumbled through air, loosing control of its movement.

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo said.

The Gust rushed against his body, pushing down with force that could have tore saplings out of the ground. Bulbasaurtwo stood his ground through the damage he took, focusing all with his strength against the power of the wind. When the Gust subsided, tearing grass and a ground foot of earth out of the ground Bulbasaurtwo felt himself stronger having resisted it.

"_By focusing more of my power I gain more strength," _Bulbasaurtwo told Shane. _"I've been here only a day and I'm getting more power than all those years in Amber's Remember Place."_

"That's correct," Shane said.

"Pidgey!" it cried.

Bulbasaurtwo saw the seed on its body open up to grow the fern plants like the ones from so long ago. The more they grew into bigger, healthier, brighter green fronds the more health was being sapped from Pidgey's body. Bulbasaurtwo could feel his connection to the plant, the draining of Pidgey's energy into his own making up for all the damage that had been done to Bulbasaurtwo.

By the time the fern fronds were lime green and three feet long growing on Pidgey's body and Bulbasaurtwo had no more damage done to him Pidgey had stopped struggling and lay motionless on the ground. Once it did the Leech Seed's plant dropped off its body and closed back into a yellow ovular seed.

"_Should we do something for it?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Shane ran over to a nearby tree, plucked two Oran Berries from it, and laid them right beside Pidgey.

"Pidgey's out cold," Shane replied. "It can eat the fruit to regain its strength when it wakes up."

"_Alright," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo walked over to the Oran Berry tree to eat from it. While they were eating they talked.

"_I got so much stronger after that fight," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I'm getting more powerful by the battle."_

"That's right," Shane said. "We just keep that up and we have nothing to worry about."

"_Hey Shane?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"Do you think we could enter the Pokemon Tournament?"_

Shane looked over at Bulbasaurtwo and sighed.

"_You know," _he continued on. _"The one where you face a whole bunch of trainers. Amber told me about it."_

"That's true," Shane said. "Not only that but I've heard that if you become the champion of that you get to face these people called the Elite Four. They're said to have the absolute strongest Pokemon in all of the Kanto region."

Bulbasaurtwo smiled at the prospect.

"_Well could we?" _he asked.

"I don't know," Shane said and laid on the ground. "To do that you have to go around and defeat at least eight Kanto gyms in the continent. After that you can but that in itself is hard as it is."

"_I bet we could do it," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"You and I together."_

Shane turned over and smiled.

"It won't come over night," Shane replied. "You got to earn power like that, super clone or not."

"_So does that mean we get back up and do some more training?" _he asked.

Shane nodded.

They both started walking around the field again, looking for another challenge. Bulbasaurtwo was kind of getting bored just walking around the field doing nothing. Where was a battle when you need one?

Then something red caught his eyes. Bulbasaurtwo turned to see the bright color was on the move, moving in blurs from one spot to another.

"_This way!" _Bulbasaurtwo ordered and ran after it.

"Wait hold on!" Shane replied.

Bulbasaurtwo ran after the blurring movement until it stopped. It was a red fox-like Pokemon with beady eyes and curls of hair on the top of its dog-like head. Its tails were six red whirling masses of hair that grew from its body.

"Vul," the Pokemon cried. "Vulpix. Vulpix."

The Pokemon communicated the message to Bulbasaurtwo.

_What are you? I can sense you are different from any Pokemon I've met. Not only that but it is proven by your markings that you are different. What are you exactly?_

"_I am super clone!" _Bulbasaurtwo spoke in telepathy. _"I am a copy of the original Bulbasaur but made stronger! I am here to become the strongest Pokemon in the world!"_

"Vulpix, Vulpix," it cried.

_Really now? I believe in a good challenge. Come at me with everything you've got._

"Bulbasaurtwo I'm so glad I caught up with you," Shane's voice said.

"Bulbasaur!" he uttered.

Bulbasaurtwo charged at the Vulpix with all the power he could muster.

"No!" Shane yelled. "Vulpix is a-"

To Bulbasaurtwo's surprise Vulpix breathed from its mouth three small flames. The fireballs scorched Bulbasaurtwo's body at its leg burning an olive green marking at its back, and hit spot on its bright green flower bulb.

"Saur!" he cried in pain.

He was so caught up in the pain that Bulbasaurtwo fell backwards and lurched in agony.

"_A Fire-type?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked Shane.

"Yes," Shane replied.

"Vuuuuuulll," Vulpix laughed. "Vulpix. Vulpix-Vul."

_Hah. You are not worthy of the title super clone. You may be a clone but your power is just that of another Grass-type. It goes down with fire. And fire has the ability to destroy anything in its path._

"_No," _Bulbasaurtwo yelled in telepathy. _"I was to be the best and strongest Pokemon brought down by nothing. Now its over."_

Bulbasaurtwo struggled to get up but just couldn't find the energy. Shane ran over and tried to pick Bulbasaurtwo up but dropped him. He was seared by Bulbasaurtwo's burnt body. The fire was just that hot.

"We have to leave," Shane said and tried picking Bulbasaurtwo up where he wasn't burnt.

"_No," _Bulbasaurtwo said and actually did manage to stand. _"I can beat Vulpix…Fire-type or not."_

"This is crazy," Shane said. "You can't."

"Saur!" he said and launched a Leech Seed.

Vulpix's tail became enveloped in blue fire. It whirled around to burn the grass and Leech Seed to ashes.

"Come with me Bulbasaurtwo," Shane pleaded. "Come back with me and we'll get you help."

"Saaaaauuuuur!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled in defiance.

He forced all his mental power upon Shane, trying to convince him to not let him leave. Instead Bulbasaurtwo's vision went blank. Suddenly he was in a dark place, a lot like the place he had been in with Amber, Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Mewtwo. All that was there save himself was Shane.

"What…!?" Bulbasaurtwo yelled. "Where am I?"

"I don't know," Shane replied. "How did I get here too?"

Suddenly they were filled with a bright light that illuminated from below.

"Do you feel that?" Shane asked. "Is that…is that…?"

"Our minds?" Bulbasaurtwo asked.

There he said it. It felt like their own consciousness was resting beneath where they were both floating. Bulbasaurtwo could feel Shane and his brain functioning down below them.

"Wow," Shane said. "It seems that both of us are here. So is this both of our minds or just one of ours?"

"I think its both," Bulbasaurtwo replied. "And I don't think its just our brains. I think its our entire organism down there."

"Well how we got here must be another trick given to you by Dr. Fuji," Shane said. "Our minds seemed to have melded so trainer and Pokemon have greater connection."

"I wonder where power is located," Bulbasaurtwo asked. "See where my strength is located."

"Let's find out," Shane said.

They willed themselves to descend below into the bright light they sensed was Bulbasaurtwo's consciousness. We walked through it, what surrounding us was like a cave of glass that reflected random memories from Bulbasaurtwo's life.

Suddenly they could feel a great pulse. It was a pulse that not only they could feel physically but in a sixth sense way, just like they knew this was Bulbasaurtwo's mind and not Shane's. They ran this time toward the pulse.

What Bulbasaurtwo saw was in fact a huge orb of bright light in the middle of a towering pole. It was hundreds of times the size of a house, connected onto the pole, pumping like a heart. This was in fact power Bulbasaurtwo had but it was not power he was using.

"This is stored power that I can feel," Shane said. "This is power that's lying dormant within you that you haven't accessed at all. Don't you just automatically know that?"

"I do," Bulbasaurtwo said. "The strength of whatever that thing is…its flowing through every part of my mind in this place. Its exciting just to think that I've been unlocking this hidden strength during my training."

"No you haven't," Shane said. "This strength hasn't been tapped into at all. Your body's getting stronger but there's all this energy that hasn't been used at all."

"Let's go feel it," Bulbasaurtwo said. "The only way we'll ever really get a taste of it is if we touch it."

Shane nodded.

They willed themselves over to fly to the surface of the bright light. As Bulbasaurtwo got closer he could feel more and more what this thing really was. What it felt like was the feeling when he was in sync with the vegetation during his training in Amber's Remember Place by that stone mountain and when they had first stepped into the field.

Bulbasaurtwo inched closer and closer to the orb of light, feeling the not only the harmony of nature but the power of it as well. Bulbasaurtwo inched his claw closer and closer to the light.

"Touch it," Bulbasaurtwo said to Shane. "Touch it now."

Shane inched his arm closer to it. They touched it at exactly the right moment. Bulbasaurtwo could feel part of the orb's enormous energy flow into his being. He could feel the power.

Suddenly where they were was overcome by a great white light and shined so brightly it blinded Bulbasaurtwo. When it faded back Bulbasaurtwo was staring at Vulpix who was still smirking in mock at it. Bulbasaurtwo knew that he was no longer within his own mind anymore but he could still feel himself connected to Shane's brain.

"Unleash the power Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane ordered.

The order really didn't yell to Bulbasaurtwo's ears as much as it did his mind. He could feel Shane's order and exactly what it meant. Unleash it.

"SAUR!"

From Bulbasaurtwo's body flowed more botanical energy than he could have ever hoped for. All the markings on its body because he was a clone, even the ones burnt by the fire, glowed a bright, luminescent green color.

The green color spread to the earth around him, turning the short lawn into blades wider than a foot and taller than twenty feet. The trees suddenly sprung up another ten feet with twenty more branches with twice as many Oran Berries even bigger around. Flowers suddenly sprung out of seemingly nowhere of all sorts of various arrays of colors.

"Vulpix!"

_What?! What is this power?!_

Bulbasaurtwo after unleashing all his power decided to concentrate it all back into his body. Bulbasaurtwo could feel the tiny fraction of power he had just unleashed concentrate back into its source. The glowing of his body stopped as the energy he unleashed became forever apart of him.

The Vulpix looked deeply intimidated.

"Vulpix!" it yelled.

Suddenly its body became enveloped in a bright orange blaze of fire that amazed Bulbasaurtwo that it didn't burn Vulpix.

It ran full steam at Bulbasaurtwo with its body coated with intense flames.

But Bulbasaurtwo didn't move. His mind became one with his trainer's as they both knew what to do.

"Bulbasaurtwo use Vine Whip!" Shane ordered.

"BULBASAUR!" He roared.

From both sides of his bulb came a bright green, slender vine that Bulbasaurtwo could feel was stronger than any material he had ever felt. The vine closed at the end into a head larger than the rest of the slender vine's body. It had a + marking across it of bright pink of an unopened flower petal. Bulbasaurtwo sent the vine plants to whip at Vulpix.

"Vulpix!"

Just one strike from each of the vines tore apart all of the fire from Vulpix's body. The strike from the vine plants still sent Vulpix flying. Then Bulbasaurtwo willed the vines hover a foot above Vulpix to slam it into the ground. The earth made a crater where Vulpix had been struck.

Bulbasaurtwo stopped fighting and then with vines pulled off two very plump Oran Berries and placed them in front of Vulpix.

Bulbasaurtwo drew the vines in front of his eyes.

"_Wow," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Awesome!"_

"You did it!" Shane said. "You learned Vine Whip!"

The both jumped for joy into the air, screaming in happiness. When they were done Bulbasaurtwo sat down in the grass, the pain slowly coming back to him.

"Your so much stronger not only for defeating Vulpix but unlocking some of that hidden potential and learning Vine Whip!" Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo smiled weakly.

Shane brought the Pokeball out from around his waist.

"Let's get back to town and I'll take you to the Pokemon Center where we'll meet up with Charlie and Amber," Shane said. "Kay?"

Bulbasaurtwo nodded and the stream of red energy sent him into his Pokeball.

_Wow. _He couldn't help think as he slowly healed in the ball. _I really did it. _


	27. But Why?

**Chapter 27: But why?**

"I haven't got a very good report of you doctor," Giovanni said.

They sat in Fuji's private quarters in the new laboratory on New Island.

"I know you are housing the clones," Giovanni said. "Ambertwo, Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and Charmandertwo. I know you have them."

Fuji had been informed by Giovanni in private of the Missingno Pokemon that infested Ambertwo's body. Fuji had been unaware of it and had just now known about it.

"I assure you Giovanni," Fuji said. "The children left after that happened and took their Pokemon with them. I have no idea where they are save my little Amber resting in her bedroom right now."

"They are my property and you cannot take them away like that Fuji," Giovanni said as he glared at him.

"I will bring Amber under full submission to you, so long as I get to see her alive and happy," Dr. Fuji said. "I do not know about the whereabouts of the orphans or their super clone Pokemon they have claimed for themselves."

"I will find them," Giovanni replied. "I want you to know I will and I will interview Blaine about the same thing."

"He will tell you the same thing," Dr. Fuji said. "I assure you."

"Your lucky I couldn't have these super clones without you," Giovanni said. "Or you'd be deeply sorry for helping them."

"I will do my part to help you just the same," Fuji said. "I will aid in bringing Mewtwo to consciousness."

"If that is true I do not mind giving you full right to your cloned daughter," Giovanni said. "Just make Mewtwo survive."

"Will do Giovanni," Fuji said. "Will do. Mewtwo is expected to in just a couple days at the most. He will be your's soon."

Mewtwo's mind was beginning to come alive again. It had been suppressed but now it arising again. He remembered being somewhat awake before.

"_I have slept for so long," _Mewtwo said. _"It seems like…forever."_

Mewtwo had a faint memory of something, something living. Four of them in fact. But besides that and the feeling of love he knew nothing.

"_But…I remember…something…some_one_," _Mewtwo said.

And then Mewtwo could hear the four living things saying all sorts of things. It was too faint and there was too much to really make out but he found himself remembering one particular thing. It was said with the sweetest, most innocent of voices:

"Life is wonderful."

"_Life is wonderful…" _Mewtwo said.

_Life is wonderful, plain and simple fact. No arguing with it. The tender voice said so._

The question came inside Mewtwo's mind and it would be one that it would take so long for him to find out.

"_But…why…?"_


	28. Normal Life, Again?

**Chapter 28: Normal Life, Again?**

"Here's your Bulbasaur back," the nurse said.

Shane stood at the counter at the Pokemon Center and after a second of being put on the machine while in his Pokeball Bulbasaurtwo had completely recovered. The nurse handed Shane Bulbasaurtwo back in his Pokeball that Shane said it was just a Bulbasaur. He took the Pokemon in his Pokeball from her.

"Soon we'll be the best, like no one ever was," Shane said to the Pokeball.

Shane walked over to where his friends sat on the couch in the Pokemon Center. Amber sat with one leg on top of the other, looking towards Shane as Charlie was reading a thick book entitled _Universal Guide to the_ _Geography of Kanto._ Charlie put his book down.

"So how went the training?" Amber asked. "Did Bulby get any stronger?"

"It was awesome!" Shane yelled and held up his fist in a victory sign like he saw victorious Pokemon trainers did.

He told them all about their training, about how their minds melded into one, Bulbasaurtwo got stronger, and learned Vine Whip.

"He's been waiting to do that forever," Amber said with a shocked expression. "He really is living his own dream."

Shane nodded.

"Well," Shane said. "It's noon and me and Bulbasaurtwo got to go eat so bye-"

"Wait!" Amber said. "I forgot to tell both of you!"

Charlie and Shane turned towards her.

Amber had an kind of nervous look on her face. Something about this made Shane feel uneasy.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Well," Amber said, twirling a strand of her blue hair with her finger. "My dad enrolled the three of us in one of the best schools in the continent. It's called the Cinnabar Institute of Advanced Learning where some of the biggest brains ever studied. We can stay there and get an education. My dad wants us all to go there so we can get an education."

Shane's jaw dropped. He turned to his brother and their eyes met and locked into each other's gaze. Then they both turned to Amber and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Amber asked.

"Learning," Shane said. "Hah."

"Yeah," Amber said. "And so what…?"

"Look Amber," Charlie said. "We appreciate the offer but we kind of have our own plans."

"What plans?" Amber demanded, sitting straight up and glared directly at Charlie.

"We're not here to get a fancy edumacation," Shane said.

"Don't you mean education?" Amber asked.

"We're going to be Pokemon masters," Charlie said. "Traveling the world while catching, training, and befriending Pokemon."

"I thought you liked learning Charlie," Amber said.

"Not when I have to sit in a room where a teacher bores me to death of the stuff that doesn't really matter," Charlie said. "I'm planning to take a trip to get eight gym badges, enter the Pokemon Tournament, and be the champion."

"Well my dad enrolled us," Amber said. "Okay? Look, I know that you guys don't want to come but please…do it for me."

Amber sighed and wrapped her hand around her wrist.

"I want to so I can…," Amber said. "So I can be a normal girl again. I've lived half my life in a glass vat with cloned Pokemon. I love them and both of you but I just want to relearn the world again, okay? Please, just help me through this."

Shane and Charlie looked at each other again.

Shane knew that doing this would sacrifice their Pokemon training time and possibly never allow them to go on their journey. But for the sake of Amber they both nodded gently and turned to Amber.

"We'll come with you," Charlie said.

Shane nodded.

Amber gave him a beautiful smile but as Shane admired the elegance of her he shed a tear.

"Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey!"

The strong wind the Pidgey was throwing at it was carrying pounds of soil from the ground that kept heading straight for Bulbasaurtwo. This Pidgey was obviously stronger and higher leveled than the last one Bulbasaurtwo had faced.

Nevertheless, Bulbasaurtwo waited for Shane's command as their minds had become one again, Bulbasaurtwo sensing Shane's every motive.

"Bulbasaurtwo shoot your Leech Seed into the Sand-Attack!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried and fired an oval-shaped, yellow seed from the opening of his bulb.

The Leech Seed immediately sprung into action, as soon as it entered the wave of earth from the bottom of the seed grew tan roots that enveloped all the soil. The wrapped around soil, turning it into a thick ball of earth, that plopped down onto the ground like a sack of laundry. From the top came fern fronds longer than four feet (growing even healthier and faster due to Bulbasaurtwo's increased power). The growth of the Leech Seed added to his strength.

"_Nice strategy Shane!" _Bulbasaurtwo said quickly.

"Okay this is supposed to teach a lesson in how to use your strength," Shane said. "Power and moves you know are nothing if you don't know how to use them properly in each situation!"

"_Gotcha," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Pidgey!"

The Pidgey jumped into air, flapped its wings, and flew straight at Bulbasaurtwo with all its speed like an arrow, except this was about ten times faster than an arrow. The very speed whipped grass and topsoil from the earth.

"Sidestep it!" Shane said.

"Saur!" he cried and moved all his weight to the right side of his body.

His left two legs lost their footing on the earth and he moved directly to his right. The Pidgey's arrow of a body narrowly avoided Bulbasaurtwo. Bulbasaurtwo's eyes met with that of his foe when Pidgey flew right past him.

Then the Pidgey planted its talons in the earth and jumped right back at Bulbasaurtwo from behind, with the same amount of dangerous speed.

"Sidestep it again!" Shane ordered.

"Saur!" he cried.

He stepped to his left and the Pidgey's Quick Attack missed.

It came around again with another Quick Attack.

"Dodge it again!" Shane yelled.

"Bulba!" he cried and jumped sideways.

"Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey! Pidgey!" it yelled as it attempted to strike at Bulbasaurtwo with its incredibly fast lunges.

"Saur! Saur! Saur!"

He jumped again to the left, the blur of brown and white that was Pidgey narrowly missing him. He jumped right, Pidgey sailed past him again. He jumped up and Pidgey soared underneath him. He did this about five more times before Pidgey, grass sailing below Pidgey's every aerial trail.

Bulbasaurtwo, undaunted by the Quick Attacks, to see Pidgey lay down on the earth, breathing heavily.

"_Are you done yet?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Pidgey glared at him, raised its wings and blew with all its might Gust after Gust at him.

"Now block it!" Shane ordered.

Bulbasaurtwo sent from the sides of his flower bulb the might Vine Whips, dark green with a pink + at the bulbous end which were undeveloped petals. Bulbasaurtwo whipped the vines to deflect the strong wind away. The wind he deflected with the force of his Vine Whip tore branches from trees and uprooted grass but even against such strong force Bulbasaurtwo barely put any strength into it.

"Now whip it!" Shane cried.

"Bulba-Saur!" he cried as sent one vine into the air.

The came down on Pidgey's body, lashing through the Pokemon's skin leaving a bloody mark. It plopped onto the ground, defeated.

Bulbasaurtwo grabbed two Oran Berries from a tree not far away with the vines and laid them at Pidgey's feet.

"_You were a worthy opponent," _Bulbasaurtwo replied and walked back to Shane's side.

"_We did it!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"I can feel more strength within me already from that battle!"_

"I know buddy!" Shane replied and knelt down beside Bulbasaurtwo. "You really are determined to be the strongest, I know that. You're my best friend and always will be Bulby."

"Saur!" he replied with a great grin.

"Now who else to fight-" Shane was about to say.

"Shane! Bulbasaurtwo!" Amber's voice yelled. "Time for school!"

"Huh," they both sighed.

"Let's get this over with," Shane said.

They both retreated to the mansion, their heads hung low from lack of excitement in what they were about to do.

Shane stopped in front of the mansion. Shane saw Amber in a girl's school uniform with a black and blue plaid skirt and matching shirt. Her long blue hair was let loose and appeared wooly and massive with the curly hairstyle she had. Squirtletwo stood beside her, wearing bow on her head with the same blue and black pattern.

"_Well aren't you a doll face," _Bulbasaurtwo said to Squirtletwo sarcastically.

Shane knew why. According to Bulbasaurtwo Squirtletwo was a tomboy who didn't feeling like a wimpy female. Her bored and annoyed expression showed just that.

"_I'm going to get someone for this," _Squirtletwo said.

"Oh you look great!" Amber said. "I really think you should have had a matching skirt too!"

"_Yeah," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Matching skirt."_

"_Correction," _Squirtletwo said. _"I'm going to _kill _someone for this."_

"_Hey guys!" _

They all turned towards the source of the telepathy to see Charmandertwo in a tartan shirt that covered only his torso. He had a delightful smile on his face. Beside him was Charlie in the boy uniform who looked pretty much like Squirtletwo.

"I hate my life at moments like these," Charlie said.

"Join the club bro," Shane said.

Shane was in the same uniform and Bulbasaurtwo had garment over his body specially designed for quadruped Bulbasaur that covered body and limbs but had an opening for the bulb. Pokemon had to wear the uniforms if they wanted to come with the trainer to class.

"Let's all leave now!" Amber said opening the car door. "Go be normal people and learn something! Oh yeah and Charlie, because we don't want anything to get burnt-"

"I understand," Charlie replied as put Charmandertwo in his Pokeball.

"Good!" Amber replied and hopped in.

They all jumped into the limo and drove off to the Cinnabar Institute whatever place.


	29. What Remains

**Chapter 29: What Remains**

_Someone. _

"Mewtwo let's go have some fun!"

_Some voice._

"I need to go train and learn Vine Whip!"

_Something._

"Oh you probably never will!"

_Some…some…_

"We can go to the playground!"

_That's my own voice I just heard._

"Yes, splendid idea!"

"You've got to stop using big words like splendid Char!"

Then suddenly what surrounded them was a slide, monkey bars, and more. Somehow Mewtwo knew it was the playground on Cinnabar Island not far from a hotel owned by the supposed Gym leader, Blaine.

Mewtwo saw himself, sliding down the red slide. Behind him was definitely someone…it was a she. She was…was kissing him on his cheek. He could feel her life-force…sense her energy. She was mischievous.

He could feel another, different in most ways from all of them…and so kind. It was a she as well.

Another he could feel was studious and had the knowledge to learn. It was he.

Another was a he, but with a great desire to become stronger and to find so much more within and become so much more than he already was.

Mewtwo could sense a lack of animosity between them…what is to be called love. But that love ended. Mewtwo saw that when the vision of the playground ended.

"Don't cry Mewtwo," the kind girl said. "You should be happy. Your still alive."

Mewtwo could feel his cheeks become wet with liquid from his eyes.

"And life is wonderful…"

The voice, with all the presence of his four loved ones disappeared Mewtwo seemed to be swallowed by the darkness around him. As if he was literally being buried alive with sadness. Suddenly when he was totally consumed he arrived feeling another presence…one of evil.

"Not much longer…" it whispered.

Whatever it was it wanted Mewtwo. It wanted him for something evil. And within that realization came into the form of hatred in Mewtwo's heart.

"You will not have me!" Mewtwo yelled.

From power within him he cast away the evil presence, only to find that within him was something darker, some evil that had crept into his heart. It was the realization he was alone.

"No…" Mewtwo said. "Come back whoever you are…please help me!"

"What am I!?" he yelled. "What am I!?"

Silence.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

The evil, the hatred within him for the fact whatever friends he had left him and there was someone who wanted him made him unleash even more power. From him came the Psychic-type energy he would be known for. From him came the intimidation that his enemies would cower from. From him came the evil aura from the evil inside his heart.

And as Mewtwo drifted back to sleep, what he had just experienced seeming less like a vision and more like a dream, Mewtwo's heart began to change for the worst.


	30. Awaken Mewtwo!

**Chapter 30: Awaken Mewtwo!**

"Magmar would you like cyan pepper on your salad or oregano?" Blaine asked.

"Magmar!" he said while pointing to the cyan pepper.

Blaine took it and sprinkled some on the salad he fixed. He then placed it on the dining table in front of where Magmar stood. Blaine sat down at the front of the table.

"Now let's dig in for breakfast everybody!" Blaine exclaimed.

Every Pokemon at the table, Magmar, Ninetales, Rhydon and Ponyta, yelped for joy as they began to eat. Blaine was about to eat his omelet before suddenly there arose a sharp pain in his head.

"Ah!" he cried and bent over in agony.

All his Pokemon looked over to see him yelling in pain in his brain. And suddenly the pain was gone, replaced by a vision through Mewtwo's perspective.

As Mewtwo's eyes and ears opened he saw the shape of people surrounding him. Mewtwo sees he is within a glass container of orange liquid. He heard their voices best as his sight was still a bit dim.

"_Where am I?" _Mewtwo asked.

Mewtwo remembered the recurring visions he had of the four others.

"_This is not the same," _Mewtwo said. _"Why?"_

He decided to retire back to sleep, saddened he had no one with him. Strange, he thought those in his visions were his friends.

"Doctor look at this!" a female researcher cried.

Fuji ran over to the monitor.

"What?" Dr. Fuji asked before he saw for himself.

"It's brainwaves!" she cried. "They're surging!"

There were clamoring voices among the other scientists. Fuji got excited. After all this time, he would have something to show for his research and hard work. And he would tell Amber a convenient lie to get her to shut up about meeting Mewtwo.

Mewtwo heard the voices, however he could not make out what they were saying. All he knew was they were there and he wasn't.

"_Voices…outside…where I must be."_

He focused his will and suddenly the glass surrounding him broke. The liquid poured out and he could see clearly. In front of him were humans, humans that awed at him.

"Radio Giovanni's helicopter!" one said. "Tell him what's happened!"

"Quiet!" another one said. "Let us hear it's psychic powers!"

"_Psychic…powers?"_ Mewtwo asked in telepathy.

Mewtwo understood what power meant and he guessed he knew what psychic was. Maybe these humans liked him after all. Maybe they would be his friend…like those in the vision he thought were.

"For years we have struggled to successfully clone a Pokemon to prove our theories!" he said. "You're the first specimen to survive!"

_Specimen? Theories? _Mewtwo thought. _This seems less like a friend and more like an experiment._

The doctor held up a picture of what Mewtwo recognized. Feline features and small body, Mewtwo knew that was-

"That is Mew!" he said. "The rarest of all Pokemon! From its DNA we created you: Mewtwo!"

That struck Mewtwo's heart. His entire existence, his longing for friendship, the darkness that crept into his heart, and his curiosity for the outside world. All through that to find out that he was nothing more than a mirror image of another Pokemon, nothing special.

"_Mew_two_?"_ Mewtwo asked with great sadness. _"Am I only a copy? Nothing but Mew's shadow?"_

"You are greater than Mew," he said. "Improved by the power of human ingenuity."

Improved for what? Did these people care _nothing_ for him?

"We used the most advanced techniques to advance your awesome psychic powers," the doctor said.

_So that is what happened. _Mewtwo thought._ Who I was with, they were clones just as I was, who I had visions of, they were simply clones who didn't survive! All I am is the one that did! My life really is nothing!_

They did not in fact think of him as a friend. His entire destiny was as some…some sort of super clone. He really was nothing.

"_So I am the simple the end result of your experiment?!" _Mewtwo roared. _"What becomes of me now that your experiment is over?!"_

"Oh the experiment isn't over yet," the human said, angering the more with each word that came from his mouth. "It's just the beginning! Now the serious testing begins!"

Mewtwo felt heartbroken. His only friends he might have had…gone. Replaced by these people…forever.

He glared at all of them as they congratulated each other for engineering him.

"We'll observe Mewtwo for mutations," Mewtwo heard. "Is the new tank ready?"

"We'll have to come up with a cage for it."

"Excellent, we'll start testing."

"_These humans, they care _nothing _for me!"_

Mewtwo stared at his hands. It was the hands of the clone that he was. All that he was is borrowed from Mew and forged by these despicable humans.

"_Is that my purpose?! Just an experiment?! A laboratory specimen?! _**THIS! CANNOT! BE! MY DESTINY!**_"_

He let it all out.

He glowed with a bright blue aura and focused all of his hatred upon the lab that made him.

Random machines exploded! Metal and flames started being flung into the laboratory!

Suddenly these metal tentacles attacked from the ceiling! The wrapped around Mewtwo and held him suspended from where he levitated in the air! But Mewtwo effortlessly ripped them off of him with a tiny bit of the telekinesis.

Mewtwo then focused his vengeance on that of those who called him merely an experiment.

"AH!" they cried as Mewtwo manipulated the explosion to destroy one human after another.

Last of all, after all of the lab was engulfed in flames and their bodies burned on the floor below, Mewtwo turned to the scientist who told him all that he was. He glared directly at him as he formed a sphere of psychic energy around him.

"We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokemon…" Mewtwo heard him say.

The orb of blue energy surrounded him and Mewtwo then focused on releasing all the stored power within it.

"And we succeeded."

And then the entire lab was blown to smithereens.

Mewtwo stood there, discovering he was on a small island, devoid of the walls and the humans, now only fire surrounding him, looking upon the ocean that surrounded him.

"_Behold my powers,"_ Mewtwo said. _"I am the strongest Pokemon in the world. Stronger even than Mew."_

He heard helicopter above him.

The helicopter landed on the island. Out stepped from it a man with slicked hair wearing an orange business suit. He stared directly into Mewtwo's eyes.

"Those fools thought you were a science experiment," he said. "But I see you as a valuable partner."

Suddenly, hope for Mewtwo came alive again.

"_Partner?" _he asked, trying to sound strong in spite of being so desperate.

"With your psychic powers and my resources," he said. "Together we can control the world."

"_I do not need your help for that, human!" _Mewtwo roared.

"A wildfire destroys everything in its path," he said. "It will be the same with your powers unless you control them."

_This is true. _Mewtwo thought.

"I can help you do that," he said.

"_How?" _Mewtwo asked.

_MY DESTINY! _Mewtwo couldn't help but think.

"I will show you a way to focus your powers that will make you invincible," he said.

"_Show me!" _Mewtwo ordered.

The man revealed his name was Giovanni and he was the leader of the organization Team Rocket and gestured for Mewtwo to follow. Mewtwo got on to the helicopter with Giovanni and they were both taken to city. Below them was where humans live.

_So this is my destiny? _Mewtwo thought. _To become the strongest Pokemon in the world? I will do my best._

The helicopter came down into a small opening beneath the earth. It was dark but Mewtwo was told to keep following Giovanni through the tunnel. Giovanni then told Mewtwo to stop.

"Stand here," he ordered. "I will give you special armor that is designed to protect your body, as it is still young and weak."

Mewtwo did and suddenly robotic arms started fitting strange metal armor on his body. As he did this Mewtwo felt the existence of his power become altered in some way that made him feel weaker.

"_You say this protects my body," _Mewtwo said. _"But it suppresses my powers."_

"Your powers are not being suppressed," Giovanni answered. "They are being focused. Learn to use them to accomplish your purpose."

"_What is that?" _

"Patience my friend," Giovanni said. "Your purpose will become clear."

After his body was encased in the armor he followed Giovanni to a large stadium. In front of him was a large red and blue Pokemon.

"I am Deoxys," he said. "I will be training you."

"_What…who…?" _Mewtwo asked.

"Yes," Giovanni behind him said. "I work with Deoxys. We are partners in our organization. You two as well will be working together."

"Yes," the Pokemon called Deoxys said. "I will spar with you, train with you. I will go easy on you as fight the challenges of the trainers who enter this gym and other tasks of Team Rocket. Together, if the both of us train, we will become the strongest Pokemon in the entire world."

"With that your destiny will be complete Mewtwo," Giovanni said. "No longer a scientific experiment, but a sentient being with a purpose. What do you say?"

Mewtwo nodded to Deoxys.

"Good," Deoxys replied. "We shall begin our training."

They fought like this, throwing telekinetic attack after punch after telekinetic attack. Mewtwo knew Deoxys was going easy on him but only because Mewtwo was younger and less experienced. Mewtwo was already growing stronger from the training.

Giovanni smiled at Mewtwo as the two sparred. Deoxys, the only Pokemon he would ever consider to be the true equal of a human being, knew exactly what to do. Hone Mewtwo's fighting skills to take bigger and better challenges alone so that as Mewtwo got stronger Deoxys would become so strong as to make his Attack, Speed, Defense, and Normal forms more powerful and then combine them into one incredible transformation.

"Everything is going as planned," Giovanni said and smiled.

Blaine sat bolt right when the vision of Mewtwo and that strange red and blue Pokemon faded. Blaine was so glad he was the one to donate human blood to Mewtwo's DNA sequence so they could form this psychic link. He had to tell the children.

"I'll be back in a little while," Blaine said. "Don't go anywhere except the gym while I'm gone."

They all nodded.

"Rhy? Rhydon?" he asked.

"Yes, Rhydon," Blaine said. "You may have my omelet."

Blaine ran out the door. He went around to where his garage was and revved up his motorcycle.

_They should be on their way to school. _Blaine said. _Poor Amber and her clone friends. Her father's been killed and her friend Mewtwo is a lost soul. They must know about this._

Blaine drove out of the garage, down the playground, and onto the highway, twice the number of the imposed speed limit. Blaine couldn't care less about speed limits or traffic laws at that moment. The leader of the most evil organization in the world had the two strongest Pokemon in the world at his grasp and the only one who could possibly stop him were three kids and their cloned Pokemon. Things were going horribly wrong.


	31. Beginning of Destiny Insightful Promise

**Chapter 31: Beginning of Destiny!**

**Insightful Promise Proclaimed!**

"And if you take the measure of this angle and add it to this one you get ninety degrees," Shane barely heard the teacher say. "This is called the angle addition postulate."

Shane was so bored and his shoes were killing him. Why would something designed to protect your feet be so painful? Shane looked down at Bulbasaurtwo to see that he was fast asleep.

Amber was listening diligently and Charlie was trying to stay awake. Everyone else in the classroom fell between the two extremes, their Pokemon either out and sleeping or inside their Pokeballs.

Suddenly the teacher was interrupted when the door was slung wide open. Standing in the doorway was Blaine.

"I am here to pick up Amber, Charlie, and Shane and take you six home," Blaine said. "I am a their guardian effective immediately."

"Excuse me," the teacher said. "I need a written excuse so it's not counted as an unexcused absence. Not too mention you need to check in as their parent or guardian."

"What's wrong Blaine?" Amber asked.

"What is it?" Charlie asked.

"Mewtwo has awakened," Blaine said. "And he is in Giovanni's clutches."

Amber, Squirtletwo, Charlie, Charmandertwo, Shane, and Bulbasaurtwo all gasped.

"I am afraid it is so," Blaine said. "I believe that the six of you will be on a journey. A trainer's journey!"

All of Shane's brain functions stopped immediately. He heard the words trainer and journey and knew they applied to him and Bulbasaurtwo. Then, when he realized that, he had a mental explosion of sheer joy.

"YEEEEAAAAAH!" Shane said and jumped out of his seat like a rocket.

He landed on the table.

"Sit down boy!" his teacher said.

"Never! Bulbasaurtwo! Wake up!"

"_Say what now?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked as he woke up and yawned.

"We're going to leave this school and go home!" Shane yelled. "Then we're headed on a trainer's journey!"

Bulbasaurtwo leaped for joy and jumped on the desk with Shane.

"_When do we start?!" _Bulbasaurtwo asked Shane.

"Now," Shane said.

"Um…Shane I was going to take you on my motorcycle and head to Amber's mansion-" Blaine said.

"Trainer's journey!" Shane yelled.

Shane forced his school uniform, tearing his shirt in half, revealing his plain green T-shirt beneath it. Then he slipped off his pants and shoes, revealing his bare feet and tan cargo pants. On the side of his waist was Bulbasaurtwo's Pokeball.

Bulbasaurtwo then extended the Vine Whip from both sides of his flower bulb and tore his uniform off.

"Sir what in the Sam Hill are you doing?!" his teacher asked.

"I am a Pokemon trainer," Shane said. "Bulbasaurtwo use Vine Whip on the wall!"

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaurtwo cried and struck the wall with his Vine Whip.

Where the wall used to be was a gaping hole made by Bulbasaurtwo's attack. It revealed how many stories up the classroom they were, maybe one hundred feet above the ground.

"Holy crap that was cool!" some kid said.

"Shane what are you doing?!" Amber yelled.

"I'm going to go be a Pokemon master," Shane yelled.

Charlie stared at him and then started rooting for him.

"Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane!" Charlie yelled.

Then the rest of his class, including Charmandertwo and Squirtletwo, started cheering. Everyone did except for Amber, Blaine, and the geometry teacher, who stared at him like he was nuts.

"Okay then," Shane said. "Wrap your vines on the tree up there!"

Bulbasaurtwo's vines were sent and wrapped around a top tree limb that was level with them. Shane grabbed onto a vine of Bulbasaurtwo's.

"Sir you get back here now!" his teacher yelled.

"Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane! Go Shane!" they all yelled.

"You ready?" Shane asked.

"_I was cloned ready," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Let's ride, my brother."_

Bulbasaurtwo jumped through the hole in the wall and carried Shane along with him.

"NO!" his teacher yelled.

Shane felt the air rush through his hair as the swung from the branches a hundred feet above the ground. Shane felt truly alive at that moment.

"Next stop the Cinnabar Mansion!" Shane yelled.

"_Right!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied as he stretched one vine to wrap around a water tower as they entered the city area.

"Huh…" the teacher sighed.

"I will happily pay for the damages," Blaine replied to the teacher.

"It's okay," the teacher said. "Just go away."

"Let's go," Blaine said.

The children and their Pokemon followed him.

"_That was so epic!" _Squirtletwo said. _"Why weren't you cheering Amber?"_

"Because that was so stupid of Shane," Amber said. "I mean…really? Did what I see just happen?!"

"That was way too cool!" Charlie said. "Come on Blaine, admit you thought they was wicked!"

"Huh," Blaine said. "Right now I'm just worried that you don't know how dire our situation is."

"How dire?" Amber asked.

"The world enslaved by Team Rocket dire," Blaine replied.

"_Too awesome!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled.

He was swinging his vines from the tops of the skyscrapers in the city. The vine on Bulbasaurtwo's left side was wrapped around Shane's waist. People kept looking up to see the two of them doing this. Bulbasaurtwo saw them cower in fear before them.

"I know right!" Shane exclaimed.

Bulbasaurtwo saw Shane bent his knees upward to avoid hitting a platform. With that Bulbasaurtwo extended the vine wrapped around Shane to wrap around the top of a skyscraper and swerved to the right side. Bulbasaurtwo definitely placed swinging like this as No. 2 of his favorite things to do, right below Pokemon battling and training.

_Too bad Mewtwo didn't join us. _Bulbasaurtwo thought to himself. _In the clutches of Team Rocket, Blaine's exact words. What awful things could they be doing to him?_

Still, Bulbasaurtwo tried to act upbeat.

"_This is awesome Shane!" _He replied. _"This is so fun! How come we never have done this before?!"_

"Because we weren't celebrating starting a journey before!" Shane yelled. "This is going to be so cool! We're going to get to have battles and prize money and best of all gym badges!"

"_What's a gym badge?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Its where you enter a gym and if you beat the strongest trainer in that gym, called a gym leader, they give you a little badge to prove that you beat them!" Shane yelled. "It's so cool!"

Bulbasaurtwo thought about that. He envisioned going on a huge adventure, battling different monsters, and going to places he had never seen. It did in fact sound fun to him.

But then Bulbasaurtwo was brought down again by the thought of Mewtwo being with the Rockets.

"_It does sound promising," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"But can we do it is all I want to know. I mean, there must be more than us who try to be the best there ever was. What makes you so sure we'll win?"_

"Because I've got you botanical friend!" Shane said. "Because as long as we stick together I know we really can become the strongest trainer and strongest Pokemon the world has ever seen!"

"_Like a boss?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Like a boss!" Shane said coolly.

Bulbasaurtwo marveled at what Shane said. There was a chance they could win. And Bulbasaurtwo was determined he would.

"I just wonder why Blaine is going to send on a journey!" Shane said. "I mean, what does that have to do with Mewtwo?! I mean-hey look! Amber's lawn!"

Bulbasaurtwo looked to see in fact that the city was ending and the yard where Shane had trained and Amber had played with Charlie and Shane before she was cloned was coming up. Where the city ended in a large suburban cul-de-sac Bulbasaurtwo stopped swinging. Then he lowered himself down onto the streets and they ran to the wilderness.

"_Shane," _Bulbasaurtwo said when they stood in the meadow. _"Mewtwo was our best friend when we were in Amber's Remember Place. We loved him. I'm so scared of what they're doing to him."_

"Don't worry," Shane said. "It'll be fine. We'll rescue Mewtwo. One way or another we will find Mewtwo and bring him back."

"_I want your word Shane," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I can't live without all of us."_

"You have my word that we'll rescue Mewtwo," Shane said. "I promise."


	32. Quest Unfolds Calling to Become Trainers

**Chapter 32: The Quest Unfolds!**

**Calling To Become Trainers!**

The car stopped as soon the five of them had arrived to the mansion. Charlie and the rest stepped out to see Amber had been crying. They walked toward the mansion to see that Shane and Bulbasaurtwo was already there.

"So are you going to do the explaining Blaine?" Shane asked.

"Let us all step inside and then I will," Blaine replied.

Blaine stepped into the mansion and they all walked up to the upstairs living room. Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Bulbasaurtwo sat next to one another in front of where Blaine sat in the chair. Amber, Shane, and Charlie sat together on the couch.

Blaine told them about his connection with Mewtwo because of their shared blood and how he saw Mewtwo destroy the lab on New Island and all the researchers that worked there. Blaine explained Mewtwo's anger at them for thinking nothing of him and how Giovanni manipulated that to coax him into fighting for him. Blaine explained that he would toughen up Mewtwo at the gym in Viridian City so that he would be strong enough to be unstoppable and allow Giovanni to take over the world by sheer force.

"That's truly evil," Shane said.

Amber could not speak, only cry and let out the occasional moan of sadness. Charlie looked at the clones to see that each of them was also crying. This made Charlie turn to his brother Shane. Shane shrugged with sad sigh.

"We could go to gym," Amber said. "Get Mewtwo back."

"We couldn't just walk in as if it were nothing," Blaine said. "There are guards outside the gym that notify Giovanni of whom enters."

"We could enter as trainers," Shane said. "Say we want to have a battle with Giovanni and when he sends out Mewtwo he'll recognize Amber and we'll show him that-"

Blaine shook his head.

"Giovanni won't be allowing challenges just yet," Blaine said. "That's why the Viridian Gym is closed for now and one cannot enter. Besides, Giovanni wants only the strongest Pokemon from the best Pokemon trainers to fight Mewtwo."

Charlie looked down at Charmandertwo. Charmandertwo looked back at him. He may have been a super clone but far from the strongest Pokemon there was."

Blaine continued: "With that Mewtwo's super clone powers will be unleashed to the highest peak and there will be absolutely no stopping him. To formally make Giovanni send out Mewtwo you will have to defeat Giovanni's first set of Pokemon which are so powerful they easily make him one of the strongest gym leaders in Kanto. Without Mewtwo's power going to make him number one he still is may be in the ten best trainers in Kanto. Your Pokemon will need training if they want to compete with that."

You could feel the worry in the room. It fell upon everyone, even Blaine who looked calm in the face of danger.

"But the most important thing, which makes Giovanni's gym such a hotspot for powerful trainers, is the mere requirement for entering the gym," Blaine said. "Do you know how you have to have at least defeat at least eight gyms before fighting in the Pokemon Tournament?"

"Yeah," everyone said, including the Pokemon.

"The Viridian Gym, under the requirement of Giovanni, demands you have at least seven gym badges before entering his gym," Blaine said. "If not then he will not let you pass and even if you get into the Viridian Gym somehow he won't send out any of his Pokemon before you prove you have seven badges."

"So you mean…?" Amber started to say.

"We have to get seven badges?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," Blaine said. "When the guards see you Giovanni will check the trainer record to see if you qualify for a gym battle with him. Then he will battle you with his first set of Pokemon and then send out Mewtwo. I am sending you kids with your cloned Pokemon because I know that you can obtain seven gym badges."

"_And when he sends out Mewtwo he'll know that we are in fact alive and leave Team Rocket!" _Squirtletwo said_. "He'll be with us again!"_

Blaine nodded.

"There is a ferry coming by tomorrow that heads straight for Pallet Town," Blaine said. "It is where the famous Professor Oak lives. There you can go meet him and he will start you on your journey."

"_The _Professor Oak?" Amber asked. "That would be interesting."

"I know!" Charlie exclaimed. "It's said he knows everything there is to know about Pokemon! It would be a true honor to meet him."

"Yes," Blaine said. "Tomorrow, at eleven thirty in the morning you will all board the ferry. Good luck."

"Okay!" Amber exclaimed. "Everyone stay still!"

They all did while Amber ran into another room. She came back to the living room with a camera in her hand.

"Okay, Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, turn around!" Amber yelled.

They did.

"Shane, Charlie, get beside them!" Amber said.

They did as Amber told them.

"Say cheese!" and Amber took the photo

"Raaat," Rattata cried.

"Raticate!" The Raticate cried.

There were five of them surrounding Bulbasaurtwo, all of them were Rattata, except the bigger, light brown one directly in front of him. That was the Rattata he had sent flying a few days ago. It had evolved and gathered up a bunch of cronies.

_Your going to pay for doing humiliating me. _Raticate had told him.

"Ready to throw down?" Shane asked.

"_You bet!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"Use Vine Whip!" Shane yelled.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried and the battle begun.

"Did you get everything I asked for?" Charlie asked.

"_I sure did!" _Charmandertwo replied.

Charmandertwo dragged a three backpacks across the floor of Blaine's house. Blaine said that Charlie could gather any materials he thought he would need for the journey, and Blaine had quite a collection. Potions, maps, useful books, everything Charlie wanted except more Pokeballs.

Charlie took the backpack and slung it across his back. Charmandertwo also handed Charlie an orange cap that farmer's often wore. It was buttoned at the back and had a cross-breeze at the back.

"Let's get to the ferry!" Charlie said. "It's eleven o'clock!"

Amber used the telekinesis she had inherited from Ambertwo to move the locket from her nightstand to the palm of her hand.

"_What are you doing?" _Squirtletwo asked curiously.

Amber read the front of the locket: FAMILY

She opened the heart shaped locket up to see that the picture of her dad, her mother, and herself in a white sundress was still there.

"Mom you left Dad and me," Amber said. "Dad, the reason Mewtwo is in the hands of Team Rocket is because you didn't keep the promise you made me, so this is all your fault. And I am not that little girl anymore."

Amber took the picture and tore it in half with her telekinesis. Instead she replaced the photo with the one she took yesterday of Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, Bulbasaurtwo, Shane, and Charlie. She left a tiny piece where the picture of Mewtwo would go. Then she closed the locket.

"Replacing my family," Amber said.

"Amber!" Blaine yelled from downstairs. "It is time to leave!"

Amber hopped into the car. They drove to Blaine's house where they picked up Charlie.

"Where is Shane?" Blaine asked.

"Knowing him he's probably getting into a rash battle with a wild Pokemon in blatant disregard of the pressed time," Charlie said.

"Don't worry," Amber said. "I believe Shane will make it."

"Rat!" a Rattata cried as Bulbasaurtwo slapped it with his Vine Whip.

It was thrown across the meadow before it could even think of reacting. Bulbasaurtwo's attacks were becoming so strong after each battle that he had to hold back the majority of his power to avoid killing his opponent.

"Rattata! Rattata! Rattata!" they all yelled as the charged headlong into Bulbasaurtwo.

Bulbasaurtwo dodged all of their attacks with little effort, his speed far greater than even theirs.

"Tackle!" Shane yelled.

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo cried as he rammed two of them with a light Tackle.

They were both hurled into a tree and then slumped down to the ground.

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo lost sight of the other Rattata and Raticate!

"_Where are they?!" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Don't panic!" Shane replied. "Use your psychic powers! Sense them!"

Bulbasaurtwo closed his eyes and focused. At first he felt nothing but then he definitely could feel the presence of two more Pokemon. They were hidden in the bushes and he could feel them about to jump out!

"RAT!" They both cried.

Without losing the clairvoyant focus he had on them he sidestepped Raticate's Quick Attack and rammed into Rattata! Rattata was sent flying!

Bulbasaurtwo stared face-to-face with his foe. He glared at him.

"Raticate!"

_I'm going to destroy you! And I will do it with this new move I learned not long after my evolution!_

"Bulbasaur!" he cried back.

"_Come on!" _Bulbasaurtwo said with telepathy. _"Hit me with your best shot!"_

"Raticate!" he yelled.

Raticate ran straight at Bulbasaurtwo, his jaws extended! His fangs seemed to emanate a sort of ferocious aura about them!

"Bulbasaurtwo that's a Hyper Fang attack!" Shane said. "It could cause some serious damage! Use Vine Whip!"

"Saur!" he cried.

From the sides of his bulb he extended his vines that had grown in power! They stopped the Raticate in midair, the left vine holding the lower jaw in place, the right vine holding the upper jaw in place!

Raticate's bite was so strong, Bulbasaurtwo thought he had met his match!

"Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane yelled. "I know you're holding back! Just put more power into it!"

Bulbasaurtwo gathered the force he needed into the vines and hurled Raticate into the air! Then he slammed Raticate down into the short grass!

"Rat," he cried before laying still.

Bulbasaurtwo gathered the Oran berries from the trees nearby and placed them in front of each Rattata.

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo heard the sound of a car engine. He and Shane turned around to see it was Blaine driving the car.

"Come on boy!" Blaine yelled. "We have to go! Now!"

They drove to the front of the ferry. Blaine said they had five minutes to spare. As they all stood there, Pokemon clone and human alike, Blaine said his farewells.

"I need to tell you yesterday you little more than a year before Giovanni takes over the world with Mewtwo," Blaine said solemnly. "I just got that last night and I'm trying to figure out a way if I can contact Mewtwo myself. Good luck you six."

"We won't need it," Shane said smiling.

Blaine smiled too. He shook hands with Charlie.

"My lad, I hope that you raise that Charmandertwo as best as you can," Blaine said.

"I will," Charlie replied. "I'll become even stronger than you."

"I surely hope so," Blaine said smiling. "Not many real trainers come to see me often."

He walked over to Amber.

"Amber I'm sorry for the loss of your father," Blaine said. "If I can I will try and find your mother's new residence."

Then the ferry opened up and started boarding.

"Goodbye!" Blaine said as they boarded. "Be safe now! Don't give up! Train hard! Become Pokemon masters!"

The children and their Pokemon waved goodbye as they left Cinnabar Island and its forgotten gym leader.

The ferry rode off into the near noon sun and as it did the children all felt in their hearts the excitement of the new journey ahead of them.


	33. Pallet Town Welcome!

**Chapter 33: Pallet Town Welcome! **

**Pro Oak and the Mysterious Parcel and Calling!**

"_Come to me," _the voice in the dark said.

"Why?" Amber asked.

Where Amber stood in the dark was very similar to the darkness she stood while she and Pokemon clone friends were being cloned. She was staring into the empty void, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Who are you?" Amber asked. "Missingno is this you?! If it is I promise I'll do more than get you out of my head this time!"

There was a pause of the voice and a great silence.

"_I am no foe," _the voice finally spoke. _"But friend."_

Amber could feel whatever being spoke start to surround herself in the darkness. Amber grew scared but she knew this could not be Missingno. It did seem kind but at the same time so shrouded in shadow that one could not help but be overwhelmed by terror.

"_I have seen your distress, young damsel, _the voice said. _"I shall help_ _you obtain back your friend and save the world. After you leave Pallet Town, if you want my help, you will come to Route 2, not far at all from Pewter City. Make sure to bring your Pokemon, the second Squirtle, with you."_

Suddenly the entity implanted a map to his destination. She knew exactly where to go and what specific path.

"_I can help you Amber," _the voice said. _"Goodbye."_

Suddenly Amber was awake, in her bed in the small cabin on the ferry they had boarded. She looked up to see their Pokemon were in their Pokeballs, Charlie was sound asleep in his bed, and Shane was standing over her. He looked embarrassed.

"Shane…Shane what are you doing?" Amber asked.

Shane started blushing.

"Shane were you…looking at me while I was sleeping?" Amber asked.

"Um, you were muttering in your sleep andI just came to see that you were alright," Shane said.

Amber smiled. She knew he was telling the truth but she also knew that wasn't the only reason he was looking at her face so intensely.

"Amber," Shane said. "I love you."

Now Amber's face was beginning to feeling warm.

"I feel scared Shane," Amber said. "This voice in my head was telling me it could help if I went to a certain place. Do you think it's a trap?"

Shane lowered himself to Amber and Amber could suddenly feel the strength of Shane's arms around her back and she replied by wrapping her own arms around him. Then he began brushing his hand against her face which made Amber let out small squeals of excitement and embarrassment.

"Amber," Shane said. "I'm so glad you're alive. To think going on with life knowing I'll never see your pure face again. Don't go if you know that you may die."

He sifted his hand through the girl's long, curly blue hair as he softly pressed his lips against her pale neck and gently pushed it up till it met her red lips. Amber's first kiss with Shane was somewhat awkward being so young and not fully able to sense the sensation of love.

Now Amber knowing what it really was could feel every explosion of passion sent by Shane's mouth. Amber pulled Shane closer into a long, deep kiss, Shane's own arms squeezing her all the more tightly. Amber pulled her mouth away for a second to catch her breath than went back to Shane's lips.

"We'll find Mewtwo," Shane whispered into her ear as held Amber's hand as he calmed her back to sleep.

"You promise?" Amber said as Shane lulled her to sleep in her arms.

"I promise," Shane whispered as she started falling back to sleep.

Amber's body began relaxing again she went to back to sleep while having a last long, deep kiss with Shane.

The next morning their trainers released their Pokemon. The Pokemon went out on the deck. The three clones watched as the water shifted to the side as it made way to the nearby land. The Water-type Pokemon could smell seaweed and feel the increased moisture contact her body. The sun shined brightly on the waves of the sea as the clone of Squirtle gazed upon it, wanting to know the secrets it held beneath its beautiful blue surface. The more she did the more she wanted more of it.

"_The ocean…it seems like it's…calling me," _Squirtletwo said with her telepathy. _"I have such a desire to jump in and swim as fast as possible toward Pallet Town."_

"_The water's asking you to jump in?!" _the clone ofBulbasaur naively asked with his telepathy. _"Very suspicious indeed."_

Squirtletwo sighed.

_Give him a minute…_She thought. _One…two…_

"_Hey wait a minute!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"It's not calling is it? Water cannot talk! You obviously were mistaking it for your own wanting to just jump in."_

Squirtletwo rolled her eyes.

"_Hey Char, how are you doing?" _she asked and looked back.

The clone of Charmander was remaining a safe distance from the bow of the ferry, while Bulbasaurtwo and her were looking from the front, barely restrained as their curiosity had gotten the better of them.

"_Good as I am maintaining a safe distance between me and the dangerous water that could possibly extinguish my life force," _Charmandertwo said.

"_Oh!" _Squirtletwo said. _"You really are no fun!"_

"_Correction," _Charmandertwo replied. _"As I am relishing this warm, beautiful sunlight. Fire-types like me adore weather like this, even above treacherous bodies of water as such."_

Squirtletwo gave Charmandertwo her classic I'm-cooler-than-you-are grin that Charmandertwo replied back with the I'm-irritated-at-you expression.

"_You never had the curiosity to see what was in store for us once we left Amber's Remember Place?" _Squirtletwo asked. _"What it would be like in the real world? All we ever got to see was what Amber had experienced. Now we can see so much more."_

Charmandertwo changed from irritated to friendly.

"_Yeah, I guess I am being a little too uptight," _Charmandertwo said.

He walked over to the edge of the ship and watched the sun bounce off the ocean.

"_It's pretty, isn't it?" _Squirtletwo asked.

Charmandertwo nodded.

Suddenly Amber walked up to them. Amber had a backpack on her shoulders. She sat down behind Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Hey," _Amber said.

"_Watching the water," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"_Sounds nice," _Amber said.

Squirtletwo sometimes couldn't think she was seeing straight. Amber was a fourteen year old human girl. She was taller, had longer hair, the still same and pure look in her face, but more beautiful than ever, and a soft glow to her skin.

But Squirtletwo saw worry lines in Amber's face. She looked scared, worried, and tired.

"_What is wrong Amber?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked, the only one to be so bold as to ask such a blunt question.

The four of them felt the tension as Amber spoke.

"_As we speak Mewtwo is being held captive because he thinks that the only four friends he ever had are dead," _Amber said. _"How would you feel if just me, Char, Mewtwo, Squirts, or Bulby was gone?"_

Squirtletwo frowned in reply upon imagining that even one of them was gone.

"_Now all he has left is a sick and psychotic ambition of serving Giovanni, an evil more sinister than imagination allows us to believe, becoming his most powerful soldier," _Amber said. _"Let us remember what we are here for. To destroy Giovanni's hold on our best friend."_

They all nodded as Pallet Town became closer.

Shane put the backpack Charlie gave him around his shoulders. After putting his own backpack on Charlie sat on the side of the bed in the cabin they were in and began lacing up his boot.

"Are you ready for this?" Charlie asked as he tied his shoe.

"I've never been better!" Shane said. "I can't think of anything more awesome than becoming a Pokemon trainer! You know, I don't know if it was dumb luck or predetermined destiny we got to tag up with our super clone friends, but right now I'm glad it happened!"

Charlie looked back up at Shane from tying his shoe.

Shane clenched his fist and held it in the air.

"I'm ready for anything!" Shane yelled in the tiny cabin.

Charlie looked back down, patted his hiking boot to make sure it was firmly gripping his feet, and gave Shane a dry smile.

"I fear we've started a journey for a terrible reason," Charlie said as he slung his own backpack across his back and his smile faded. "Blaine forced us to go on this mission to get Mewtwo back from Giovanni. All we can do now is hope that we accomplish getting seven gym badges."

"Yeah," Shane said and hung his head. "It will be hard getting Mewtwo to come back once we get to the Viridian Gym I guess."

"More like it will be hard getting those badges," Charlie said. "Most trainer are considered skilled if they obtain four of them. Two Team Rocket rejects who are otherwise street rats fresh off the ghetto don't really stand much of a chance."

Shane looked anxious when Charlie put it that way. Charlie hung his head low after that.

"And those two kids are the hope of the world," he finished.

"We can do it," Shane said. "I know we can."

Charlie smiled at that. He put things in a rather complicated manner and Shane said things in a terse response. Charlie wondered which of them was smarter. Suddenly he could feel the rocking of the boat stop.

"Passengers," a voice said on the ferry's intercom. "We have just docked at Pallet Town's harbor. Our destination has arrived."

Charlie gave Shane a long stare.

"This is it," Charlie said and smiled. "No turning back now."

Shane smiled and clenched his fist in the air again.

"Dude if I wanted to quit I would have when the two of us were walking the streets alone when Mom and Dad were taken away," Shane said. "I'm thrilled to go."

They exited the ferry off the ramp way when the ferry docked. The six of them walked off in a group to the fresh cut lawn of Pallet Town. Amber couldn't help notice how few buildings their were and how small they were compared to Cinnabar Island or Vermillion City.

"This town…" Charlie said as they walked down the beaten path. "It's so…so-"

"Small? Homey?" Amber asked. "There aren't any houses that are skyscrapers or gyms. Only people's homes."

"_A largely uninhabited area," _Charmandertwo said in telepathy. _"And here I thought wherever humans were they were densely packed and had shelters taller than trees. I'm learning about human population patterns already."_

"_I can't wait for the first real battle with other Pokemon of Pokemon trainers!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"I'm going to have such a great time!"_

"We get it," Charlie said, looking kind of worried. "You want to defeat other Pokemon. You don't have to say it every five freaking seconds."

"Be patient Bulby," Shane said. "Good things come to those who train. Or is does come to those who wait? I can't remember."

"You know," Amber said. "I always heard so much about Professor Oak and his contributions to Pokemon research understanding. My Dad was always talking about him."

"You know," Charlie said. "Samuel Oak was supposed to not only be a great researcher of Pokemon but a great Pokemon trainer in his day. I wonder if he could give us any advice before starting our own journey."

"I'd like that," Amber said. "Especially since I don't know anything about Pokemon training. Where are we going anyway?"

Charlie pointed forward.

"Blaine told me Oak's lab was just on the western side of Pallet Town," Charlie said. "It should be on a hill overlooking a fenced off area for Pokemon Oak studies."

"Why didn't Blaine tell me?" Shane asked.

"Because he knew you wouldn't remember," Charlie sighed.

"Sounds about right," Amber replied.

The other five of them laughed while Shane kept standing there, not understanding what was funny.

"I see it!" Amber said.

She extended her arm and pointed toward a hill with a house, larger than all the ones they had seen in town, on it. There actually was a fence behind it.

"Well that's it alright," Charlie said. "Time to pay the famous Oak a visit."

They all climbed to the top of the hill and stood in front of his door. Amber knocked on the door. They all waited for it to open.

Amber heard footsteps before the door swung wide open. It revealed an older man with graying hair, a white lab coat, and brown pants. He smiled at them warmly.

"Why hello there," he said. "Would you care to step in?"

"Why thank you," Amber said.

"_I like onion rings myself," _Bulbasaurtwo said on his way in.

Oak raised on eyebrow.

"Did that Pokemon just talk?"

Charlie sighed.

"It is a _long_ story," Charlie replied.

They sat down on the couch in Professor Oak's living room. He sat down and brought them some tea as Shane, Charlie, and Amber sat down and Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, and Squirtletwo stood in front of them. Amber took a cup of tea as did Charmandertwo and Squirtletwo. Shane and Bulbasaurtwo chose to drink water.

"_What is tea made from exactly?" _Charmandertwo asked.

Oak explained to him what tea was made from as he drank and then asked again if he really heard a Pokemon just talk and himself just answer it.

"I was told by the forgotten gym leader on Cinnabar Island, an old colleague of mine, that I would have guests here for a very serious matter," Oak said. "What he didn't tell me was that they would be three kids and the starter Pokemon I give to beginning trainers except…they can talk without moving their mouths and have strange markings all over their body."

"_Is that a compliment or an insult?" _Squirtletwo asked scornfully and then began drinking her tea again.

Oak looked very perplexed. He even scooted back in his seat as far as possible, trying to stay away from Squirtletwo.

"So let me put it to you this way," the Professor said. "What are you?"

"_We're copies," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane, Charlie and Amber looked at each other.

"Should we tell him?" Shane asked.

"We have to," Amber said.

Amber calmly walked over to Oak and as she did. All you could here was Bulbasaurtwo kept lapping up the water in his bowl. The rest of them stared at Amber as she put her hand on Oak's forehead and let her entire memory flow into Oak.

She showed him a few brief memories of her childhood (leaving out her relationship with Shane), her murder, her friendship with the clones, entering the real world again, her struggle with the Ghost-type Mew called Missingno, losing Mewtwo to Giovanni, and the mission Blaine sent them on. Oak looked up, stunned at what he saw.

"Young lady," Oak said. "That's…that's extraordinary."

"_It's all true," _Amber said. _"Because of Team Rocket I now how light psychic powers such a telekinesis and telepathy. Please understand that we need your help." _

Oak looked past Amber and at the clones. They smiled in reply. Then he looked at Shane and Charlie. They nodded in reply. Then Oak slumped in his chair.

"Ma'am," Oak said. "You'll have to excuse me but I am too old for this. I mean…super clones? I have enough trouble researching _real_ Pokemon."

Amber frowned at him saying that. She then looked back at her Pokemon friends.

"_Amber," _Squirtletwo asked. _"What does he mean by _real _Pokemon?"_

Amber looked back at Professor Oak. He realized what was wrong with what he said.

"Look," Charlie said. "We need help. We need to become official Pokemon trainers and you're the only one who can help."

"I see," Oak said. "Follow me.

He got up and walked to another room. Amber and the others followed him.

"Pokemon clones," Oak said as they walked. "I've read about your father's work Amber. He was ingenious in his theories, research and discoveries. I see that Team Rocket abused that knowledge and exploited it like they do everything in our world."

"With all due respect Professor their exploitation of that knowledge is the reason for my friends' creation," Amber said. "They are all very intelligent, more so than the average Pokemon."

Oak looked down to the side.

"As I tell all young trainers, I hope you treat your Pokemon with great love and care," Oak said.

"We do sir," Charlie replied.

Oak stopped in front of a door. He opened it and Amber and her friends entered the room. It was silver in color and chrome in looks. Oak went over and opened a drawer. In it were three Pokedexes. They were all red in color with a glass screen and a teal button on the left side. Oak then started fiddling with the buttons on them.

"I am programming the Pokedexes to give each of you an identification," Oak said. "It will keep track of the prize money you win from beating trainers and register you into the Kanto League."

"Awesome!" Shane said.

"Real nice," Charlie replied.

"While I'm doing this I want someone to go into the drawer above the one I'm in," Oak said.

Charlie did that. He opened the drawer for them all to see that there were shelves of Pokeballs. They all gasped.

"Pokeballs," Oak said. "For catching Pokemon. Get out five for each of you. I don't care how strong your Pokemon are, you'll need more than one Pokemon if you want to get at least seven gym badges."

Charlie took out fifteen total and gave five to Shane and five to Amber. The miniaturized them by pressing the button on each one. They both put them in the backpacks Charlie provided them.

After a few more minutes Oak handed the three of them a Pokedex.

"Go on," Oak said. "Point it directly at a Pokemon."

Shane went first. He pointed the glass eyepiece and Bulbasaurtwo. Suddenly the Pokedex sprung open and showed a picture of an original Bulbasaur on the screen.

"Bulbasaur," the Pokedex said. "The Seed Pokemon. At birth a seed is planted on the back of this Pokemon and creates a mutual relationship with the Pokemon. The unbreakable bond between these two gives Bulbasaur botanical and animalistic qualities that lead to a debate over whether it is a plant, Pokemon, or both. The plant is the source of all Bulbasaur's strength and almost all of it's move set."

"_Cool," _the clone of Bulbasaur replied.

Then Charlie pointed the Pokedex's eyepiece at Charmandertwo.

"Charmander," the Pokedex said. "The Lizard Pokemon. The flame is the source of all of this Pokemon's life energy. If the flame dies so does the Pokemon. The flame heat and color are known to occasionally change due to emotional changes. Charmander prefers hot places."

"_I knew all of that," _Charmandertwo said.

Then Amber went.

"Squirtle," the Pokedex said. "The Tiny Turtle Pokemon. When Squirtle is freshly born the shell on its back is soft and undeveloped. Immediately after being born its shell hardens until prodding fingers bounce off and even bullets cannot penetrate it. Squirtle's shell provides structure to its body. When needing to retaliate Squirtle withdraws into its shell and used the water stored in its shell to forcefully spray foam at its opponent."

"_I am not crawling into my shell at the drop of a hat," _Squirtletwo said.

"Alright," Charlie said. "Where should we go now."

"Wherever there is a gym," Professor Oak said. "I would recommend you take the Pewter City gym challenge as it is the closest one besides the one in Viridian City."

They all nodded.

"I would like you to update me on the progress of the clones," Oak said. "It may be interesting and I won't tell a soul."

"Will do Professor," Shane said.

"But before you leave I have a small favor I want someone to carry out," Oak said.

"And what would that be?" Amber asked.

"I need someone to run to the Viridian City Pokemart, get a parcel shipped to me and run back here to drop it off," he said. "Consider it a small favor for registering all of you into the Kanto league."

"Professor I have somewhere to be with Squirtletwo," Amber said.

"_We do?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"I fear I have to go as soon as possible," Amber said.

"Then only one will go," Professor Oak said. "It won't be that long. An hour or so long's walk from here to Viridian and back."

Shane and Charlie looked at each other. Charlie then sighed and raised his hand.

"I'll do it," Charlie said.

"Yes!" Shane yelled.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled in joy.

"Bulbasaurtwo and I will the only ones headed straight to Pewter City for our first gym battle!" Shane said.

"All of you except Charlie and his Pokemon may now depart for you journey," Oak said.

The four of them left out the door, gone to the route just north of Pallet Town. Charlie looked over at Professor Oak.

"Tell them it is needed for Professor Oak," he said. "I need it for my research in Pokemon and its very important. I would strongly advise not to open the parcel as I do not want word getting around about it."

"What is it?" Charlie asked.

"It is not for you to know Charlie," Oak said. "I may tell you about it when you arrive though but only then. What is in it is vital for the research that may shatter the world of Pokemon scientists and trainers forever."


	34. What Is In This Parcel? Run Charlie Run!

**Chapter 34: What Is In This Parcel?!**

**Run, Charlie, Run!**

The six of them entered Viridian City fairly quietly. The afternoon sun glared down bright and lit up everything as they walked down the silent streets of Viridian. It was a nice town as far as Charlie could see. Calm but not boring with trees with trees that had dark green at every corner. On some houses and spaces where trees grew was the sight viridian colored, bluish-green, moss. The aroma of tree pollen wafted through the air and unlike many cities you couldn't smell much of the oily, car emission scents that usually prevailed. There was also an opening between to mountain cliffs that opened up to a valley just outside the city.

"_Smells good," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"_Yeah," _Squirtletwo said and looked up at Amber. _"It's like when you brought us to that time you brought us to that one forest with all the pine trees."_

After a brief pause Charmandertwo looked up at Charlie.

"_Mewtwo was with us then," _Charmandertwo told him in private telepathy. _"We all got into a race there and Mewtwo won because, being a Psychic-type, he could levitate through the air faster than all of us."_

Charlie realized smiled into his bright blue eyes. He told only him because he didn't want to remind his friends of the sad truth that Mewtwo was lost, thinking they were all dead. When Charlie realized that it made him feel sympathy for his Pokemon, which usually didn't give to many people.

Suddenly Charlie stopped suddenly. The others did as well. In front of him was a building with a blue roof, pale wall, and blue door. Above the door was a sign that looked sort of like a Pokeball, with two curves on the top and bottom of a circle, indicating what was inside pertained to Pokemon.

Charlie looked back at his friends.

"_This is where we split up," _Charmandertwo told them.

Amber nodded in understanding.

Charlie hugged clenched each other's fists and nodded with a proud smile.

"Take care man," Shane said.

"I will," Charlie said. "I'll be the best."

Charlie hugged Amber.

"I know that your going out to complete your dreams of being the best, Charlie," she said. "But please don't forget about Mewtwo."

"I won't," he replied.

The clones, their Pokemon and Amber, all said their goodbyes and, in Charlie's opinion, it was sadder than there's. The Pokemon had been friends ever since they had been born. They all hugged each other at least twice.

"Be safe," Amber said. "I know we'll only be gone for a few days from each other but it feels like the world is leaving me."

"Char."

"Squirtle."

"Bulbasaur."

Charlie saw Charmandertwo have tears in his eyes. Amber brought Squirtletwo onto her shoulders where she sat there, where her neck met her arm. Bulbasaurtwo and Shane, as sad as Bulbasaurtwo looked, also looked they couldn't wait to get going.

Charmandertwo and Charlie waved one final goodbye before Amber, Squirtletwo, Shane, and Bulbasaurtwo walked towards the route to Pewter City, just north of Viridian City. After they left Charlie took a great big sigh and Charmandertwo tried not to hang his head very low.

"_I miss Squirts teasing me and Bulbasaurtwo asking naïve questions already," _Charmandertwo replied.

"I know how it feels," Charlie said. "At times I wished Shane had never been my brother. Now I'm just wishing he'd come back. Trust me, I know how it feels to be separated from someone you've been with forever. Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Char," he replied with a nod.

"Let's go," Charlie replied.

They walked into the Poke Mart.

Like the rest of Viridian City, it was pretty quiet. There were three people walking around, checking out the shelves of items. The floor had blue carpet and white walls like on the outside. Charlie turned toward the bored looking clerk at the sales desk. Charlie walked up to her.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'd like to see the parcel for Professor Oak," Charlie said. "I'm bringing it to him at his lab at Pallet Town."

The clerk looked down behind the desk and pulled out a wrapped-up box shaped package. She gently handed it to him and Charlie felt it was light enough to carry in one arm.

"Have a nice day," the woman said.

Charlie politely tipped his cap to her and he and Charmandertwo left the Poke Mart.

Just as he and his Pokemon exited the store Charlie nearly dropped the parcel from surprise. He and Charmandertwo stood in shock, their mouths gaping open, to see that there were five police officers surrounding directly in front of them.

Charlie turned behind him to see that there was five more policeman.

They formed a two semicircles around him. All of them were glaring at him and four of them were on white motorcycles with flashing red and blue lights at the ends. Charlie looked up to his horror to see there were two helicopters hovering twenty feet above them.

At the front of the group of policemen stood a woman with blue hair and an official blue uniform. Her look she gave him was the meanest, boring through his very soul. Charlie resisted the urge of screaming in panic as he was already standing dumbfounded and terrified. He was hyperventilating because no matter how much he breathed he couldn't get enough oxygen into his body, leaving gasping for air.

"I am Officer Jenny," the blue haired woman said. "You are under arrest for criminal activity. Come over quietly, give us the parcel, and no one gets hurt."

"_I leave Amber for two seconds and we're arrested," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie calmed himself down, tapping in to the reserves of grit he developed by growing up on the streets as an orphan and living in an academy for criminals. He calmed himself down enough so he could finally catch his breath.

"Ma'am you have the wrong boy," he replied. "I am no criminal and certainly not doing anything against the law."

"Oh don't give me that!" the officer yelled at him. "You're name is Charlie Click and you are a Team Rocket cadet!"

Charlie was surprised. They knew his name but he was not a Rocket any longer. Even then Charlie couldn't remember breaking the law. For Pete's sake, he and his brother were the reason that Team Rocket failed in one mission.

"I am not a Rocket cadet any longer," Charlie said.

"That's a lie!" the officer said. "We're given some anonymous information on you, your affiliation with Team Rocket, and what is in that package."

Charlie looked at the parcel.

"What is in it is vital for the research that may shatter the world of Pokemon scientists and trainers forever." Oak said.

_Someone else wants this. _Charlie thought. _What's so valuable that's in here?_

Charlie held the parcel closer. This just made him not want to give it to them. Whatever source told them he was still a Rocket member and was doing a job for them was obviously out to get him.

"Give it to us and we will return it to its rightful authority," Jenny said.

"Might ask what's in this package that's so important?" Charlie asked.

"As if you don't know!" Jenny yelled. "We know exactly what that thing is and trying to downplay it's dangerous power is not going to help you!"

"_Dangerous power?" _Charmandertwo asked, giving Charlie a sideways look.

"I was told to give to Professor Oak," Charlie said. "And whatever was giving information I'm still apart of Team Rocket is Tauros crap. I was with them but broke up with them. I was young and desperate and still didn't get into trouble with the law."

"_Yeah back off!" _Charmandertwo said in telepathy. _"Charlie's a good person and wouldn't do anything wrong!"_

The officer didn't appear to be surprised at Charmandertwo speaking. Her eyes just bored through both of them.

"I won't be deceived by the _obviously_ rehearsed lie of a smart aleck teenager," Jenny said like he was a two year old brat crying for his mom to buy him a toy. "Hand it over and come over quietly."

She held her arm out and kept staring him down.

"_What do we do now?" _Charmandertwo asked. _"They have us trapped."_

"I think I have a plan but only for a distraction," Charlie said. "Can you summon enough fire from your mouth to use an Ember attack?"

"_I'm capable of it," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie than discussed the plan and slightly pointed to the opening he saw earlier when he just arrived at Viridian City. Charlie had to admit that what he was about to do he was trained to do in the Team Rocket Academy.

After discussing it with Charmandertwo he stared the officer straight in the face.

"Sorry, but I'd rather die an innocent boy than be hauled off to the jailhouse like a crook," Charlie said. "Use Ember right at the Jenny!"

The officer looked shocked just as he said it.

"Char!" he cried.

Charlie watched as Charmandertwo quickly channeled heat energy from his tail flame to his mouth.

"Charmander!"

A fire was set in his mouth and suddenly a fireball as big around as a tennis ball shot at Officer Jenny. They officer's glare transformed into terror as it headed for her. But, just as Charlie had told Charmandertwo to do, the Ember attack hit an inch in front of her high heeled shoes, blackening the concrete and cracking it.

"Now use Smokescreen," Charlie told Charmandertwo.

"Char!"

Before anyone could recover from the fact Jenny wasn't dead Charmandertwo whirled around. From his mouth shot a cloud of black smoke that hit the middle of the line of police. From the burst of it exploded black smoke that made it impossible to see within fifty feet.

"Char!"

He fired another one at the line where the helicopters were. There was another huge cloud of smoke.

The two of them bolted. Charmandertwo ran faster than Charlie so he was thirty feet ahead but Charlie was still running at full steam towards the valley between the mountain cliffs.

"Stop!" he heard Jenny yell. "Thieves!"


	35. Charmandertwo's Real Flame!

**Chapter 35: The Clairvoyant Mind Journey!**

**Awaken, Charmandertwo's Real Flame!**

Charmandertwo and his friend ran through the rocky cliffs that loomed over both sides of him. As they ran on the ground beneath him that was tiled to Charmandertwo's surprise. That meant wherever he was going was important. On the mountain cliffs above him were flat surfaces, making him realize it was more of a plateau that had trees and grass on top.

"_Do you think they're still after us?" _Charmandertwo asked as they ran.

"Of course, especially after a stunt like that!" Charlie said.

Charmandertwo kept his pace with Charlie, feeling he could easily outrun him if he wasn't careful. Charmandertwo wondered what they wanted with Charlie and what was in the package Charlie held so tightly to his chest. Charmandertwo could hear the revving of their machines they road.

"_They're coming!" _Charmandertwo said. _"What do we do?!"_

"I don't know!" Charlie said.

Charmandertwo looked around in a hurried panic. Finally he saw a set a rock hill that could let them climb to the top of the plateau. Charmandertwo saw it, hoping that their machines couldn't climb it. He and Charlie could easily scale it.

"_Charlie look!" _Charmandertwo yelled.

He pointed to the hill they could climb. As fast as Charmandertwo could he ran through the grass, carefully to avoid the longer blades as to not set them on fire with his tail flame. Charmandertwo climbed up the hill and before he knew it was halfway up the fifty foot slope.

Charmandertwo was about to go up higher when he saw Charlie being chased through the grass tall by the policemen on their…motorcycles? He was being pursued and they were on his tail. Charmandertwo got so mad, his newfound friend about to be arrested for not doing anything wrong…he wanted to burn all those humans to ashes.

Charmandertwo knew that Charlie would disapprove of killing them, knowing that they did not know any better.

"Char!" he yelled, his head leaned back, summoning heat energy from his body to his mouth.

"Charmander!"

He flung his head forward and shot from his mouth four fireballs from his mouth into the grass. The tall grass behind Charlie but in front of the humans on their motorcycles burst into flames, and at Charmandertwo's careful calculations of where he fired them, made ten foot wall of fire in front of the policemen.

Then Charmandertwo, more in passionate anger than in necessity, flung a Smokescreen from his mouth. The ball of smoke hit a policeman in the face and knocked him off his motorcycle, his eyes tearing, before bursting into a cloud of smoke.

This gave time Charlie to catch up with Charmandertwo. Charlie paused to catch his breath.

"Thanks," Charlie huffed. "Very…huh…resourceful."

"Char!" he said with a brilliant smile.

They ran up the rocky hill to the top of the plateau, where it was bare stone with tall conifer trees growing from the rock. Charmandertwo felt relief to see that there was a hill of rock just at the other side of the cliff.

"Halt! In the name of Justice!"

Charmandertwo and Charlie whirled around to see from the side was Officer Jenny on a motorcycle, sailing through the air. Her motorcycle came to a screeching halt right in front of where they were about to run to. Jenny stepped out of her motorcycle and stared directly at them.

"Thought you could get away with one of the most powerful weapons in history?!" she asked.

"It looked like a Christmas present without the colorful wrapping," Charlie said. "Little did I know it was a weapon, lady."

"You aren't getting away!" she said.

She plucked from behind her waist a Pokeball, enlarged it by pressing the middle button, and held it out at him.

"You may come over quietly or suffer a maximum sentence of twenty five years in jail or fifteen in Federal prison!" she said.

"Woman, I don't think you understand," Charlie ranted. "I HATE Team Rocket's guts! Every day I spent with them as an eight-year and afterward were years of my life ruined! If I knew that this belonged to the Rockets I would throw it into a pit of fire and tell them to go after it! But if you want to be the prissy, self-righteous cop who thinks that I'm a running thief then come over here and take it from me woman!"

Charmandertwo saw the woman's eye twitched for a second, a sure sign of great annoyance. Instead of calling Charlie a name she seemed to accept his challenge.

"Fine I will!" she said. "Go Growlithe!"

She threw the Pokeball into the air, it opened up, and out came from the shining beam of light a Pokemon.

The officer caught the Pokeball on its way down.

Growlithe was a light red canine with dark stripes on its back. It had a pale fluff of hair on its head, a bushy pale tale, and a black muzzle. Hanging on the Pokemon's chest were three gold medals. Growlithe stood straight up on all fours, looking regal and noble.

"The striped Charmander is your opponent!" Jenny said. "Defeat it so we may bring it and its trainer into enhanced interrogation!"

"Growl," it grunted tersely.

Charmandertwo was scared, never having a fight before. Growlithe's impression, just by the way it stood motionless and solemnly, intimidated Charmandertwo. He readied for the fight by channeling heat from his tail-flame to his mouth.

As he gathered fire to through his body the officer stood there behind her Pokemon, waiting for Charmandertwo to make the first move. Charmandertwo could feel the tension.

"_I'm scared Charlie," _Charmandertwo replied.

"_It'll be okay," _Charlie replied in telepathy.

Charmandertwo felt Charlie's voice in his head…as telepathy, not sound.

"_What?!" _Charlie replied. _"Am I talking in your head like you do with us?! It must explain why I feel…like I'm within you."_

Charmandertwo could feel the same thing as he charged up for a powerful Ember. He was feeling Charlie's mind creep into his. Charlie's emotions, such as his stress at being challenged by Officer Jenny, anger at being falsely accused, and worry along with his personality seemed into his.

"_I can feel you Charmandertwo," _Charlie said. _"I think it's my mind being drawn into yours."_

After a few seconds of their minds coming in contact Charmandertwo began viewing Charlie's personality sort of like matter in all three dimensions. He had seen Charlie's persona before by its actions but now he beginning to its depth.

And as this happened Charmandertwo's body stopped channeling heat from his tail flame to his mouth. The depth of their two minds, meeting each other for the first time on a psychic plane such as this, it staggered his mind beyond the ability to focus. Charmandertwo was getting hit by visions from Charlie's mind. One was them both being hauled off to jail by Officer Jenny, a future possibility he thought of, then a feeling that he didn't deserve this because of all the awful things he had experienced in his life, then a past memory of playing with Melody and Amber, then his worry for Shane and Bulbasaurtwo and how they would fair in their journey, then feelings of anger coupled with pure stress, followed by Charlie trying to focus and reconnect to Charmandertwo.

"_I am ready to fight so long as you are here with me," _Charmandertwo said, doubling up what little he had of hands and raising them.

Suddenly his mind felt woozy and then Charmandertwo felt like he was falling. He felt as though reality itself had given way and when he looked down he saw he really was following through a black hole! Charmandertwo fell for two seconds and then reached the soft bottom. He looked down to see that he stood on a sphere of glowing purple light.

Charmandertwo knew what he stood on was.

"_My consciousness," _Charmandertwo replied. _"My mind."_

He could sense it, feel it, with clairvoyance that this was in fact himself he felt breath, pulse, and think beneath him.

"_Jump for Mewtwo's love," _the voice whispered.

There was not one feeling that went by, not one thought, he couldn't feel course through what he stood on as well.

"_Greatness awaits," _the voice, now he both recognized it as his own thoughts, kept whispering.

Charmandertwo's main feeling that was inside both him and the light was shock that this was happening.

"_I'm scared," _the voice replied.

He looked around to see there was another ball of purple light, one that Charlie stood on.

"_I am your trainer," _a new voice said.

Charmandertwo stared into the boy's deep brown eyes and Charlie stared into Charmandertwo's bright blue ones.

"_Be not afraid and we shall become one," _it said.

They both knew, just by what they saw within each other what they had to do.

Charmandertwo jumped!

Charlie jumped!

They jumped towards each other and the void beneath them seem to make them float. In a time that seemed like forever they floated toward each other, hands extended. It was over when their palms touched. From their palms came the energy that made Charmandertwo's mind disrupt for a moment.

Suddenly he was back on the plateau, staring at Growlithe.

"I was about to say-" Officer Jenny said before Charmandertwo's body expelled flames and burnt holes in her police uniform.

"OH HOLY CRAP THIS BURNS!" she exclaimed.

"Growl," it said, backing up.

Charmandertwo's stripes that marked him a clone glowed red. His body was giving off these spiraling lines of fire that went everywhere into the air. Then his tail-flame started spiking to an even greater height. It started superheating the air until their were strong wind currents emanating from the flame.

The Officer and her Growlithe had their mouths gaping open, not knowing how this happened. But Charlie did.

"_That Fire-type power," _he said astonished. _"A bit of it's been unleashed."_

"Char," he replied and smiled.

Jenny looked angry and gave them both a leer.

"I don't care what trick you two just pulled!" Jenny yelled stubbornly. "I'm taking you both to be put in incarceration and I'll do it using my highly decorated Pokemon! Go Growlithe! Use Flamethrower!"

"Growl!" it cried and from its mouth it launched a blast of fire.

"Use Ember!" Charlie ordered.

Not only was Charlie providing Charmandertwo mental energy from his own emotion but he was plotting out in Charmandertwo's mind exactly how to execute the Ember.

"Charmander!"

He leaned his head back, formed a fireball in his mouth and then slung his head forward. Charmandertwo was impressed to see it was the size of a beach ball. When his Ember collided with the Flamethrower they sort of fused before the Ember caused another explosion of fire.

It shook the plateau, crushing the bare rock beneath it, from the superheat.

"Char! Char! Char! Char!" he cried.

He released four more Embers, all in the pattern of a diamond shape around Growlithe, just Charlie wanted. All four flames made the hill of rock they fought on tremor and melt the rock. As Charlie planned Growlithe was too fast to get hit by any of these attacks.

"Growlithe!" Jenny yelled. "Use Extreme Speed!"

Growlithe, after jumping out of the way of the Ember, gracefully ran at Charmandertwo.

Suddenly it disappeared. Then it reappeared right in mid-jump beside him. Growlithe was in the middle of physical strike!

"Block it!" Charlie replied.

Charmandertwo, as the psychic subtext of his order dictated, rammed his palm against the Pokemon's physical attack!

"Growl!"

"Char!"

You could feel the vibration through the air as one side of raw power collided with another side of raw power.

"Keep it up with Extreme Speed!" Jenny ordered.

Suddenly Growlithe descended upon the ground and then disappeared again. Suddenly it reappeared directly above Charmandertwo.

Charmandertwo again blocked it!

As Growlithe kept appearing and reappearing out seemingly nowhere it wore Charmandertwo down, protecting against an attack that still sent tremors through the earth and air.

As he pretended to be as strong as ever but his energy fading fast Jenny's orders changed.

"Another Flamethrower Growlithe!" Jenny yelled.

Suddenly Growlithe was right in front of him.

"Groooowwww-Lithe!" it cried.

Another blast of fire came from its mouth!

Charmandertwo got hit just two inches away from Growlithe by the powerful Fire attack. From where the Flamethrower hit the plateau the rock had been charred Smoke poured out from where he was it!

"Good job Growlithe!" Jenny yelled. "Now let's see if it's done for!"

When the smoke cleared, Charmandertwo looked down upon his body, to find to his surprise there was not a burn mark on it.

"Wh-What!?" Jenny yelled.

"Growl…?" it looked surprised to.

Charmandertwo leered at the Growlithe, it's stripes glowing a bright red and its flame skyrocketing like crazy from the tip of his tail. The sight of this took Growlithe's breath away.

"Now Charmandertwo, let me see if you can use Fire Spin!" Charlie yelled.

"Char," he said and nodded.

Just before that order Charmandertwo got the image of Mewtwo, strong-willed but alone and truly weakened inside from despair, and gave him the strength he needed to draw in heat energy through his outstretched arms. He could feel the raw heat churning through him that would react to the air outside and become fire. And just before he released it he stared Growlithe straight in the eyes and said:

"_I am a super clone!" _

WHOOSH!

A spiraling current of crimson fire from each palm blasted from his hands. They interconnected, forming a fire vortex that trapped Growlithe! As the currents span faster and faster until it became an all consuming tornado of fire that kept blasting from Charmandertwo's hands and sending Growlithe flying backwards! Jenny ran to the side to dodge the raging blast of the fire tornado that torched Jenny's motorcycle and then the blast flew off the rock surface itself, extending into mid-air!

"_Stop," _Charlie said. _"Growlithe's had enough!"_

"Char," he replied.

The fire tornado faded, leaving a half-circle carving in the stone where molten, liquefied, rock poured over in a waterfall of the plateau. In the middle lied Growlithe, part of his red fur blackened, motionless, and fainted. Charmandertwo took pity on his defeated opponent.

The glowing of his markings faded and so did his tail-flame becoming large. But as it did the power did not. Power he unleashed stayed within him.

"Return Growlithe," Officer Jenny replied.

She returned Growlithe to it's Pokeball, where it would heal gradually.

"Char," he cried and ran over to Charlie.

He hugged Charlie's leg. He patted Charmandertwo on the head.

"You did great," Charlie said, the telepathic ability now subsiding.

Jenny stared at them. Something had changed about the way that she looked at them but Charmandertwo couldn't quite place what it was. Charlie then spoke to her.

"A Team Rocket agent wouldn't have let you return you Pokemon to your Pokeball," Charlie said. "I chose to spare your Growlithe's life. Now, get to a Pokemon Center, your Pokemon's hurt bad."

Jenny slowly walked across the plateau and carefully as if Charlie would suddenly snap and turn against her. She bowed to him, and ran off down the way they came up. Charmandertwo looked solemn as he watched her climb down and then turned toward the path Jenny stopped them from taking.

"_Do you think there are more of them?" _Charmandertwo asked.

Suddenly, they could hear the sound of helicopters nearby. They both turned to see them hovering not far at all from them.

"We gotta move!" Charlie yelled. "Now!"

They both ran down the path that led to the bottom of the plateau, running away from the helicopters, no telling when they would stop.


	36. Shane's Seeing Red! Farewell, Shane!

**Chapter 36: Shane's Seeing Red!**

**Farewell, Shane!**

The field with rolling green hills Shane and Bulbasaurtwo walked through ended when the mountain in front of them became the new geography. Trees grew out of the side of the cliff, forming a sparse, verticle forest.

The sheer rock cliff spanned in front of them at each end, left and right. He was just north of Viridian City, two miles or so.

"I thought this was a quick route to Pewter City," Shane said. "How did this get here?"

"_Huh, how much farther?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Hold on," Shane said. "Let me see what the map has to say."

He looked at the Pokedex's map feature Professor Oak put on his Pokedex. The map showed his current position on a route between Viridian and Pewter City. He was right beneath the part that was labeled in text as "Viridian Forest". It just showed to keep going directly north for now.

He closed his Pokedex and slipped it back in his bag.

"Okay," Shane said. "We're gonna scale this dude. Bulbasaurtwo, use your Vine Whip."

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

From each side of his bulb extended a long, bright green vine with a pink + from undeveloped flower petals at the bulbous ends. On vine wrapped around a tree, the other around Shane's waist and extended to wrap around another tree. Then Bulbasaurtwo started withdrawing the vines back into his body, raising him and Shane up.

Bulbasaurtwo kept raising the both of them up until he got to close to the trees he hung from. Then he wrapped his vines around another two trees. Shane just kind of floated there from the vine wrapped around him.

After about one hundred feet up there were no more trees, instead replaced by grasses that grew out the side of the mountain cliff.

"_There's nothing I can grab onto!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"What do we do?"_

"Reach up onto the top of the cliff!" Shane said. "See if there's a tree or something!"

Shane saw Bulbasaurtwo's vine unwrap from a tree, then extend to the flat surface atop the plateau.

"_Nothing so far," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Need some help?" a voice called from above.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo looked up to see a young man with spiky black hair, a red hat, red shirt, blue jeans, and a confident smile. On his shoulder sat a Pikachu.

"Yeah we sure could!" Shane yelled.

"_Please help us!" _Bulbasaurtwo said in telepathy.

The man nodded. He grab a Pokeball from his belt and opened it up.

"Go! Snorlax!"

From the white light that emanated from the Pokeball came out a seven foot tall Pokemon with a teal body and tan belly and feet. It's stomach bulged out at least three feet and it had an impressively large, oval shaped head.

"Grab that vine and pull them up!" the trainer ordered.

It grabbed the green vine with its paws and pulled! Foot by foot Bulbasaurtwo and Shane ascended higher and higher to the top from the Pokemon's impressive strength. Then when they reached the top the plopped onto the plateau's stone surface. There was no plant life on the surface, which Shane thought was weird since it covered the side and not the top.

"Gee thanks," Shane said. "I owe you one man."

"Your welcome," the trainer replied.

"_Yeah, you rock!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

The trainer looked kind of shocked.

"Well," he said. "In all my travels I've never encountered a Bulbasaur that could talk using telepathy. Or have such weird markings."

"_It's because I'm a super clone!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"A what now?" he asked.

"So could I take data on your Pokemon with my new Pokedex I got from Professor Oak?" Shane asked.

"Sure," the Pokemon trainer replied.

Shane took out his Pokedex and pointed the glass eyepiece at Pikachu.

On the screen it showed a picture of a Pikachu and the Pokedex spoke:

"Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon. When Pikachu gather together the combined electricity from their pouches on their cheeks create lightning storms. Their tail is used to monitor its surroundings. If one yanks at it this Pokemon will try and bite them."

Then Shane pointed the glass eyepiece at Snorlax.

"Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokemon. Snorlax is extremely lazy, it's only goal is to eat. It eats about nine hundred pounds of food a day in the wild. After it has eaten it goes into a long slumber."

The Pokemon trainer returned Snorlax to his Pokeball.

"Could you show me a way off this plateau to Viridian Forest?" Shane asked.

"It shouldn't take more than a few minutes," he said. "Follow me."

He turned and walked towards the end of the mountain.

"So what's your name?" the trainer asked.

"My name is Shane Click," he replied. "My best friend, Bulbasaurtwo, and I off for our first gym battle in Pewter City."

"Huh," he said. "My name's Red."

The trainer handed the Pikachu on his shoulder a berry from his bag.

"Chu, Pika, Pika," it said as it munched on the berry.

"_We're going to beat the entire Kanto league and prove to be the best Pokemon and trainer team ever!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"Like a boss."_

"Like a boss!" Shane repeated.

"You got a long, difficult road kid," Red said. "I thought I _was _the best at first. Then after a few long journeys I _became_ the best."

"Yeah," Shane said. "I know you are pretty advanced trainer but one day the two of us are going to be so good that know one can claim to be except us."

"Saur," he replied in satisfaction.

The trainer slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a case. Then he opened it, revealing a total of 32 gym badges.

"Wow," Shane said.

"_Wow," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Yeah," Red said. "All eight gym badges from the four different continents I've been to. Pretty impressive, huh?"

"I'll say," Shane said. "You must be really strong. I hope I become as good as you are. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Pallet Town," Red said. "My first Pokemon is the Poliwrath I have but one given to me from Professor Oak was Bulbasaur. Keep dreaming kid, you may become better then me."

"What are you doing here?" Shane asked as they walked. "Are you going back to Pallet?"

"Huh," Red sighed and looked grave. "Not really. I'd like to say I was but…there's this Pokemon that's been battling trainers in the Viridian Gym. Its Psychic-type powers are amazing. This way."

Red pointed to an artificial staircase carved into the cliff, in front of them. The two of them began to climb down using the stairs. They were more than twenty feet wide and had a rare tree growing here and there.

"You must have missed the stairs at the front where you were," Red replied.

"Guess so," Shane replied.

"Every trainer who's been there says no Pokemon could ever defeat it," Red continued. "I'm going there with the six best Pokemon I have. I've been told by reports that if it increases in strength anymore it will become one-man army. So to stop it from getting any stronger and possibly becoming a threat I'm going to personally defeat it."

"_Hey!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"That's one of my best friends Mewtwo your talking about!"_

"What?" Red replied.

Shane sighed. He figured he could trust Red. So they told him the whole story, of the creation of the super clones, Shane and Charlie rescuing Amber and the Pokemon clones from slavery underneath Team Rocket, and why they had to get seven gym badges, so they could enter the Viridian Gym, show Mewtwo his friends weren't dead, and then bring him home.

"Quite a story," Red replied.

"Yeah," Shane said. "Bulbasaurtwo is a pretty cool Pokemon."

"Well, you don't need to go on your journey," Red replied.

He pulled from his waist a purple Pokeball with an M on it.

"This is the Master Ball," Red said. "It's extremely hard to create, super rare, but it can catch any Pokemon no matter how strong. If my Pokemon aren't strong enough, then this thing surely will."

"_But that's my friend!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"We're going to rescue him and as soon as he knows we're not dead he'll stop fighting for Giovanni! You can't catch him, he has a home already!"_

"From what you told me that just makes Mewtwo more of a threat," Red said. "I have to either catch or kill it before Giovanni can make it any stronger."

Bulbasaurtwo stepped in front of Red.

"_He's our friend!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"Would you rescue Pikachu if it went over to Team Rocket!"_

"Pika," it said idly.

It jumped off Red's shoulder and stared at Bulbasaurtwo.

"But that's not the case," Red said. "And you can't stop me from going and defeating Mewtwo. It's either your friend or your world. The rational decision is to save the world."

"But without friendship and love there is nothing to live for in the world," Shane said. "Let us handle it Red. We'll bring Mewtwo home."

Red looked at Shane like he was an idiot.

"Kid you just don't get it," Red said. "If I go and defeat Mewtwo in battle Giovanni will just get it healed and just make it stronger at some other place. If I catch or kill it before it get's any stronger then the world is safe. There's more to the world then just you and a couple of clones."

"_I won't let you kill Mewtwo!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled in telepathy. _"I don't care what it takes, I won't let you until you trust us we can get Mewtwo home without making him one of your Pokemon or killing him!"_

Red put his hands on his hips. He smiled at Shane and Bulbasaurtwo like they were bothidiots.

"Maybe you do have quite the power stored up in you but currently you don't have enough power to stop me from defeating Mewtwo," Red replied confidently.

"But I do," a voice said.

A straight wind of snow and ice blew Pikachu off the stone staircase. Red cupped his hands and yelled below.

"Stay down Pikachu! I'll handle this!"

Shane and Red both looked towards the source of the Ice-type attack. On the sheer stone ledge above them was a sleek, black Pokemon with fanged mouth, a red head dress growing from its skull, a yellow gem on its forehead, twin red tail and deadly white claws.

"Vile!" the Pokemon cried, revealing its fangs.

Shane got his Pokedex out. It showed a picture of the Pokemon on the screen.

"Weavile," it spoke. "The Sharp Claw Pokemon and the evolved form of Sneasal. Weavile hunt in packs of four or five in the frigid wilderness and using communication from clawed drawings on objects. Weavile are known for swift, deviant killing of their prey and opponents. Their claws give them immense power."

"Weavile," it said, smiling down at us, licking its chops.

"Weavile is a Dark and Ice-type Pokemon," Red said and brought a Pokeball out. "I know exactly who to use."

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

"We're ready to fight too," Shane replied.

"Nice work Weavile," a familiar voice called. "Oh Shane."

Shane, Bulbasaurtwo, and Red whirled around to see it was a beautiful woman with blond hair, pale skin, and familiar hazel eyes wearing a Team Rocket uniform hovered five feet above them on a jetpack.

"You," Shane said.

"Are you not happy to see me?" Executive Miller.

"You were the cruelest instructor at the Academy and my least favorite," Shane replied. "I have a bone to pick with you."

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo growled.

"You two know each other?" Red asked.

"I'm going to give you an option," Miller said. "Hand over that super-clone, go back to wherever you crawled from, you street scum, and then Mister Dashing over beside you is going to agree never to set foot in the Viridian Gym again. Agreed?"

"I think you know what the answer is to that is," Shane said.

"_I'd rather die than join you," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"And I ain't goin' anywhere lady," Red said. "I'm going to prove I'm the best, like no one ever was and destroy your criminal butt."

"So that's a no," Miller said. "Shane, you and your brother never would have made great Rocket members anyway."

"Maybe I wasn't a good bad guy but I did do one thing right," Shane said.

"Oh, and what was that?" Miller asked.

"Well when you sent my little brother and I to guard the hostages I used an electro magnetic field generator to kill the lights, fake a Scyther attack by mimicking one's voice, free the hostages and while it was dark the officer to the computer data of resurrecting Pokemon from fossils," Shane said. "Yes, you heard me, you got owned by two kids who had not even gone through puberty."

Miller's face seemed to cramp as he said that.

"So you two are the reason we failed and now don't have the secret to getting fossil Pokemon from ancient times?" Miller said. "That was my single greatest downfall!"

"Sucks to suck doesn't it?" Shane asked.

"_Yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"It sucks to suck!"_

"Hm," Miller said. "Luke, dearest, time to attack."

_Luke Miles? _Shane thought. _The Executive? Miller's boyfriend?_

"Gliscor use Night Slash on the tall one!" Miles's voice yelled.

"Scor!" Shane heard a Pokemon cry.

To the right Shane looked and saw Miles on a jetpack too, and his Pokemon, one seven feet tall, a black body, huge, widespread wings on its back, claws like a lobster, the tail of a scorpion, and fangs like a vampire.

"Gliscor!" it said, one claws opened wide.

It rushed past Red and then stopped. Shane looked in horror to see on Gliscor's extended claw was warm blood, just like the blood flooding out of Red's stomach. Red then fell of the staircase, dropping the Pokeball in his hand, tumbling to the foot of the plateau.

Shane stumbled back, speechless. Bulbasaurtwo gawked at the sight of the death. The sight gave a horrible recurrence of the death scene of his parents. It envisioned the death as clearly as if it happened once day ago, making him stumble into the stone ledge.

Half conscious of what was happening, Shane saw Gliscor land in front of Bulbasaurtwo.

"Come with us," Miles said, hovering beside Gliscor. "You can be the strongest Pokemon in the world."

"_Your going to pay for killing Red!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"And I'll say it again, I'd rather die for real this time than join you!"_

"Suit yourself," Miles said. "Gliscor use Gust!"

"Scor," he cried and drew his wings back slightly.

"No!" Shane yelled. "Bulbasaurtwo!"

Shane awakened from his semi-conscious state and scrambled for Bulbasaurtwo.

Gliscor drew his wings forward and the burst of wind sent Bulbasaurtwo flying!

"Bulbasaur!" he yelled.

Shane ran as fast as he could, jumped in the way of his flying Pokemon, grabbed him, and they flew together until Shane's back hit a tree.

"Ow," Shane moaned in pain.

Bulbasaurtwo turned around gave Shane a big grin.

"_Thanks," _he said.

"_Anything for you man,"_ Shane replied in telepathy, their minds starting to meld.

"Oh look," Miles said. "They're not dead. Don't make a full power Gust, just push them off. I want them to feel their doom as they fall off."

"Scor!" he said flapped one slight Gust.

It did not really hit Bulbasaurtwo and Shane but just the area. But it was enough for the tree to become uprooted and get pushed off the stairs. Shane was falling with Bulbasaurtwo in his arms.

As they fell two hundred feet or so Shane knew it was the end.

"_Well, this is the end,"_ Shane said in telepathy. _"To tell you the truth I never thought I'd make it this far, you know?"_

"_You mean, _the end_?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked in telepathy.

"_The end," _Shane said. _"Who knows…you may survive being a Pokemon and being shielded by me. But I'm definitely done for."_

"_But __I love you," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"You can't die. Not now. Not before it's only begun."_

"_Sorry man," _Shane said. _"That's the game of life. You die before you reach your destiny. You'll live on. And like Amber always said to us, life is wonderful."_

"_You can't die!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I'm not going to let you!"_

"_You don't understand," _Shane said. _"That's impossible."_

"_No! You don't understand I'm not going to let you die!" _Bulbasaurtwo screamed.

Suddenly his markings began glowing a bright, luminescent green. Then the lime colored aura that began flowing from him pulsed within a fifty foot radius of where they were in the air. It hit the tree the fell with them, making it grow taller and grow white flowers within the leaves.

Their minds so close together right now Shane could sense some serious power coming from Bulbasaurtwo. Shane was suddenly stuck with a vision in his head, a vision of the great orb within Bulbasaurtwo's body sinking into his very being. All that power was not active within him now but it was now apart of him, the way power is within all Pokemon that gives them the power to gain more power.

And this was all done because he would not let Shane die.

Suddenly the Vine Whip from Bulbasaurtwo extended from both sides of his bulb. They were launched downward and suddenly the two of them stopped falling.

"Wow," Shane said when the turbulence stopped.

Suddenly they were both jerked forward until they were only six feet off the ground, Shane still clinging to Bulbasaurtwo. Shane saw that the vines had penetrated the earth and they were being held up by their strength.

Shane was impressed, knowing that Bulbasaurtwo had now gotten stronger, clearly evident through the massive increase in the power of the vines.

"Wow," Shane said as he let himself down to the ground. "Your stronger."

Bulbasaurtwo began to shower the grassy meadow they were now in with his luminescent green aura. It was making the plants grow as if they had been given some radioactive fertilizer.

They both ran over to where they saw Pikachu crying of the bleeding body of his trainer.

"Still acting like a bunch of babies even though you survived?" Miller said.

They both landed on the ground, Gliscor and Weavile right beside its respective trainer.

Pikachu and Bulbasaurtwo turned to them with angry glares. Pikachu started sparking with flaring electricity. Bulbasaurtwo's glowing and pulsing aura stopped but that wasn't because he lost his power. Quite the contrary. His power he just unleashed was now focused and what he could maintain was concentrated enough to fight now.

"We'll just have to kill you the old fashioned way," Miles said. "A Pokemon battle."

Shane leered at them.

"You're going to pay for killing Red," Shane said. "He may have been a bit misguided but he still died for trying to do the right thing."

"Chu," Pikachu growled.

"And so will you," Miller said.

"Let's finish this," Shane said. "Miles, I call fighting your Gliscor."

"Saur!" Bulbasaurtwo yelled back.

"Good for you," Miles replied. "Let the battle begin! Gliscor, use Night Slash!"

"Gliscor!" it said and flew full steam ahead at Bulbasaurtwo, both claws wide open.


	37. Bulbasaurtwo vs Gliscor!

**Chapter 37: Gliscor vs. Bulbasaurtwo!**

**Blasting Off!**

"Good for you," said Miles said. "Let the battle begin. Gliscor, use Night Slash!"

"Gliscor!" it yelled.

Gliscor spread its wings and it descended upon Bulbasaurtwo, about to snap his head off with one slice of its claw!

"Dodge it," Shane ordered.

Bulbasaurtwo quickly side-stepped Gliscor. Gliscor zoomed a few feet past Bulbasaurtwo. Gliscor then turned around confused to see he had not hit his target.

"Use Tackle!" Shane cried.

"Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaurtwo jumped with all its might into Gliscor!

BAM!

He flew thirty feet away and hit a conifer tree in an upside down position.

"Nice one!" Shane said.

"Get back up!" Miles yelled at his Pokemon.

The Gliscor hovered back into the air, pumping its wings for a second, before motionlessly hovering in the air again.

"Gli…scor," it said, breathing hard, giving Bulbasaurtwo a demonic glare.

"Pika-CHU!"

From Pikachu's body emitted a bolt of lightning at Weavile!

"Dodge it!" Miller ordered.

Weavile agilely jumped into the air, the Thunderbolt blowing apart a conifer tree instead. Weavile landed right behind Pikachu.

"Weavile now use Slash!" Miller yelled.

"Vile!"

SLICE!

It slashed Pikachu's back, leaving bloody scratch marks that barely pierced the skin.

"Vile…?" it asked, confused it would do so little damage.

Pikachu looked up at Weavile and gave it a murderous glare.

"Vile…"

"PIKACHU!" he roared and his body gleamed with a coating of yellow electricity that surrounded it.

Pikachu tackled Weavile head-on, charging it straight into the mountain cliff as the electricity covering its body fried Weavile.

"Weavile!" it cried in pain as it was charged straight through the mountain.

"Pika! Pika!" he said.

_Revenge._

"I'm warning you Click!" Miles yelled. "Gliscor is a Flying-type Pokemon, which is super-effective against Grass-types! Hand the super clone over and I spare both of you!"

Shane turned to Bulbasaurtwo and gave him a cocky smile.

"Well what do you think about that?" Shane asked.

Bulbasaurtwo gave Shane another confident smile. Then he said to both Miles and Shane:

"_I say we school your old teacher."_

Gliscor had managed to begin hovering again and was back into the fight.

"Use Tackle, Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

He charged full steam at where Gliscor hovered a few feet above the ground!

"Aerial Ace!" Miles yelled.

Gliscor started sucking air into its wings. Then, as it surrounding its body with wind, it flapped its wings once and flew downward at Bulbasaurtwo and hit head on!

CRASH!

"Scor!" it cried.

_Take that you little runt... _It communicated.

"Saaaaaauuuuuur!" he cried in pain.

It was like being hit by a rolling boulder! Bulbasaurtwo's body was flung thirty feet into the air! Then his body tumbled downward and he hit the grassy plain. He couldn't even move a single toe claw without feeling extraordinary pain.

"Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane cried in panic.

"Are-are you okay?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

"_No," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"No…?" Shane said.

"Hah!" Miles laughed. "I told you not to mess with Team Rocket! Now you're going to die Shane! You're going to die and your Pokemon, the clone that you stole from us, is going to do our bidding!"

Miles looked directly into the eyes of Bulbasaurtwo.

"You're a clone," Miles said. "You were made to serve Giovanni! Gliscor, Night Slash! Make sure the clone is barely alive and the kid's dead as a doornail!"

"Gliscor," it said and nodded.

It flew at Bulbasaurtwo, its claws wide open again and ready to slice him into pieces.

While Gliscor attacked, Shane spoke to Bulbasaurtwo.

"You have to get up," Shane said.

"_I can't fight anymore," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"It hurts to just move."_

"I'm going to die," Shane said. "And you'll be a slave of Giovanni, just as Mewtwo would. You can't just lay down like this!"

"_I wish I had a…choice…"_

"If Amber were here what would she say?!" Shane said. "If you were the one who thought Mewtwo and the others were dead what would Mewtwo do?! You said you wanted to be the strongest Pokemon ever! Are you going to give up, when Mewtwo, me, and the world all depends on you surviving, winning us seven gym badges, and taking Mewtwo home!"

Bulbasaurtwo was silent. Though the pain was killing him, Bulbasaurtwo slowly stood up.

"Well what is it going to be?!" Shane yelled in fury.

Bulbasaurtwo looked Gliscor straight in the eyes, ignored the pain, and then drew the vines from both sides of his bulb. They were slender, a beautiful shade of bright green and stronger then before. Gliscor slashed with his left claw at him but Bulbasaurtwo whipped his vine in between the claw, stopping it in midair. Gliscor then slashed with his right claw but Bulbasaurtwo used Vine Whip again.

Vine and claw locked in place Gliscor and Bulbasaurtwo glared at one another.

"Gliscor! Gliscor!" it yelled.

_Let go of me you clone! _Gliscor yelled.

"_No!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"Not until you pay the blood on your hands!"_

"Gliscor!"

It pulled its claws away from his Vine Whip.

_Now die!_

SLASH!

Bulbasaurtwo used Vine Whip, catching the attack but barely because it was so fast this time!

Bulbasaurtwo used Vine Whip as fast as possible!

WHIP!

Bulbasaurtwo's vine was intercepted by Gliscor's claw! They began hitting each other with their attacks, striking as fast as possible!

"Come on, slice him Gliscor!" Miles yelled.

"You can do it Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane cried. "Keep it up!"

They fought, Bulbasaurtwo's vines hitting against Gliscor's claws, looking for an open spot to strike at!

SLASH! WHIP! SLASH!

Their attacks became blurs, so fast they were going on pure instinct!

WHIP!

Both of them could barely keep up with the other's attacks!

SLASH!

They fought on, putting all their power into the attack!

WHIP! SLASH! WHIP!

At first it seemed like it would continue on forever but actually Gliscor's Night Slashes had the same strength. Bulbasaurtwo had been building up power in his Vine Whip so that attack was stronger than the next.

Now, Gliscor was on the defensive, now only using his Night Slash to protect against the Vine Whip. Then, after building up enough power, Bulbasaurtwo was used his Vine Whip to knock away Gliscor's claws!

WHIP! WHIP! WHIP! WHIP!

Bulbasaurtwo whipped Gliscor with his vine in the gut! Then in the wing! Then in the other wing! Then in the face!

"Gliscooooo!" it cried in pain.

It lifted itself into the air, hovering into the air.

Bulbasaurtwo withdrew the vines.

"Get back down there and fight!" Miles ordered.

"Great!" Shane said. "You got him on the run! Now use Vine Whip!"

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

He drew the slim green vines from the sides of his bulb to stretch all the way up to Gliscor, to discover the bulbous ends, being that close to the sun, had developed and grew into an unopened flower where the red petals were beginning to show. The buds had replaced the larger ends.

"Gliscor!" it cried in pain.

The vines wrapped around Gliscor's body very similar to that of ivy on a wall. They seemed to adhere to its skin, sticking to it like a climbing vine on a vertical surface. It made a glen of Gliscor's body.

"NO!" Miles yelled.

"Bulba-SAUR!" he cried.

He pulled himself up with the support of the Vine Whip wrapped around Gliscor and was flung into the air. Gliscor stayed in the air, in pain though as the vines stuck to him, and Bulbasaurtwo was lifted from the ground from his body's support.

"Gliiii!" it kept crying agony.

_Let me go!_

When Bulbasaurtwo was hanging five feet from where Gliscor hovered in the air he put all his force into it and began whirling his body in midair!

"Bulba! Bulba! Bulba!"

Bulbasaurtwo started whirling the vines that caught Gliscor beneath him, then whirling the vines with Gliscor in them over him three times!

"Gliscor!"

Then after the third time Bulbasaurtwo forced the vines to launch Gliscor to the ground!

BAM!

There was a huge cloud of dust that erupted! Bulbasaurtwo hung there, suspended with the vines in midair, a hundred feet in the air. Then, when the dust cleared, it was seen that Gliscor hit the ground so hard that there was an imprint in the earth of himself. He laid there motionless.

Bulbasaurtwo lowered himself down to the ground, on top of the body of his defeated opponent.

"We did it!" Shane said, running up to Bulbasaurtwo.

He took Bulbasaurtwo into his hands and lifted into the air.

"We really beat them!" Shane cried. "Our first battle with a Pokemon trainer and we won!"

"Bulba!" he cried happily.

"I knew you could do it," Shane said. "All you had to do was believe in yourself."

"You think this is over!" Miles cried. "Go! Machoke!"

He through out a Pokeball and came from it a Pokemon with blue skin, black pants with a yellow belt around the waist, and had a lot of muscle bulk.

"Machoke!" it said.

"Use Focus Blast!" Miles cried.

"Machoke!"

It put its hands together and from it came the sight of red energy.

"_Kick his butt?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Kick his butt," Shane replied.

Bulbasaurtwo jumped down from Shane's hands and into the grass.

"CHOKE!" he cried as he blasted red energy from his hands.

The blast hit Bulbasaurtwo! At impact it exploded from his body, causing a huge crater to be formed.

"How does it feel to have your Pokemon destroyed, Click?!" Miles yelled.

"I wouldn't know," Shane said.

After the smoke cleared from the explosion, Miles saw Bulbasaurtwo was barely damaged.

"But…how…you…what?" Miles's eye started to twitch violently.

"Vine Whip!" Shane said.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

From Bulbasaurtwo's bulb flung a Vine Whip that lashed Machoke and made him fly into the cliff, sixty feet behind him.

"_Awesome!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled.

Miller's face was pure perplexity.

"And now…," Shane said. "This is for ruining my childhood with your filthy militaristic, criminal organization. Vine Whip once more Bulbasaurtwo."

"_Yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"The Rocket goes bye-bye!"_

"What?!"

Bulbasaurtwo tied his vine around the Rocket, lifting him into the air.

"Have a nice flight," Shane said.

"Mommy," he said.

Bulbasaurtwo flung the Team Rocket Executive through the air but even as far away as he was Bulbasaurtwo could still hear him scream:

"Team Rocket's blasting off!"

_I wonder what that means. _Bulbasaurtwo thought to himself.

"PIKACHU!"

Bulbasaurtwo and Shane whirled around.

They saw Pikachu shoot a lightning bolt at the Haunter Executive Miller owned. (Weavile's body was laying still not very far away.)

"Haunter!" it cried as its body fried.

It fell down to the ground, its body instead of shifty and mysterious becoming totally motionless.

Pikachu then stared at Miller with a murderous rage.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried, a ball of electricity growing from its tail.

"No I-!" Miller cried in panic.

"Pikachu! Pika!" it said as it whirled its body and the ball of lightning flew at Miller.

BOOM!

Where Miller stood came an explosion of electric energy! It blinded Bulbasaurtwo for a second.

Where Miller once stood was a crater fifty feet wide and twenty feet deep and ashes fell.

Pikachu nodded at the sight.

"Chu," it replied.

Pikachu went over to its fallen trainer and began picking the Pokeballs up from Red's belt.

Pikachu leaned over Red's body weeping.

"_Is there anything we can do?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Pikachu looked Bulbasaurtwo in the eyes.

"Pika pika. Pikachu. Chu chu pika."

_Go and destroy Team Rocket. Show no mercy for the murder of my beloved trainer and untold others. Do not only defeat them but destroy them._

"Saur," he said and nodded.

Pikachu swiftly ran away, carrying the Pokeballs.

"Pikachu. Pikachu pika."

_I will go to my trainer's hometown and tell his family what has happened. Farewell._

Shane looked at Bulbasaurtwo. Shane took his Pokedex out and looked at it. Bulbasaurtwo saw tears in his trainer's eyes.

"Well," Shane said. "We made some money. Apparently from defeating Pokemon trainers the Pokedex will immediately record our winnings and add money from their bank account to ours. We could use some money."

Bulbasaurtwo understand what Shane meant but suddenly he felt woozy, realizing he may have defeated Gliscor and Machoke but hadn't recovered from the damage he had received. Without warning he collapsed.

"Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane said.

"_I need to rest," _he said before he lost consciousness.


	38. Valley of the Shadow Gate

**Chapter 38: Valley of Shadow Gate**

"_Are we there yet?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"Squirts we haven't even been walking very long!" Amber replied. "Why don't you calm down! I know where I'm going!"

The clone of Squirtle tilted its head to the side, closed its eyes and made a smart-aleck face.

"_Or maybe that map in your head's phony," _she replied.

Amber gave her the best scolding glare she could, which was more pitiful then scolding.

"I'm trying to concentrate!" Amber replied. "Now let's see. We took a right before going on the path that lead straight to Pewter City, then we kept going straight."

Amber looked around. The two of them stood in a valley, where about a mile away on there left was a forest. The valley they stood in was empty. The ground was covered in strange red flowers that had black stems and mounds of stone. It was getting pretty late, as the two of them had been walking until it was sunset.

"_It's getting kind of late," _Amber said in telepathy. _"We should find somewhere to sleep."_

Amber heard Squirtletwo sigh.

"_The truth is," _she said. _"That I'm kind of crabby because we haven't found a body of water. I'm kind of tired and it refreshes me."_

"Oh," Amber replied. "Water-types like water. Why didn't you just say so? Say, couldn't you make your own pool with Water Gun?"

"_My shell can hold water," _Squirtletwo replied. _"It can't make it. I've got to get the water from somewhere."_

Amber looked around for a pond or stream for ten minutes before finding a large pool of water.

"_Alright!" _Squirtletwo said.

She jumped into the clear water, swimming freely in it as the water on her very glossy, shiny shell made rainbows bounce off.

"_Well what are you standing around for?" _Squirtletwo asked. _"Don't be a Charmandertwo. Get in and have fun."_

Amber gently nodded. She looked around, even used her psychic ability to sense if there were any other humans around, and there weren't, and took off her skirt, shirt, and shoes and walked into the water.

"_See how relaxing this is?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"You're right," Amber replied. "This is very relaxing."

"Vulpix."

Amber and Squirtletwo turned around. They saw a Vulpix, drinking water from the pool, not seeming to mind the two of them.

Amber ran to get her Pokedex to see what it said on Vulpix:

"Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon. Vulpix's tail splits into six red ones, starting from its birth as a single white one. Vulpix controls fire that burns inside its body. When Vulpix release this heat they give off mystical, blue Will-O-Wisp attacks."

"_Well they was some boring information we didn't need to here," _Squirtletwo replied. _"Does that thing ever talk about anything cool, like being able to tear down mountains in a single blow or fly faster then lightning?"_

Amber looked at the Vulpix as it calmly drank the water from the clear pond.

Amber put her Pokedex back in her skirt pocket and then walked back into the water with Squirtletwo.

"My Dad has told me about where Vulpix live before," Amber said. "Either they live where other Fire-type Pokemon do, like near volcanoes and other hot places, or they live in…in places like…"

"_Like what?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"I guess the best way to say it is supernatural places," Amber said. "They live near places like Lavender Town that has the legendarily creepy place the Pokemon Tower, where Pokemon are buried."

"_Random coincidence," _Squirtletwo said, while swimming on her back.

"There are other places they inhabit that are near spooky areas," Amber said. "And you know what the weird thing is? They stay on the edge of those places like they're afraid to go to the actual source of supernaturalism."

"_Oh really?" _Squirtletwo asked with a cocky gloat.

"They do have some Ghost-type traits but they're not Ghost-types," Amber said in her defense. "Just like you have abilities and traits of a Psychic-type but not a true Psychic Pokemon."

"_I see," _Squirtletwo said. _"But I still think you're acting too much like Charmandertwo. Worrying about nothing at all."_

Amber sighed and started braiding her long, blue hair, something she does when she gets slightly nervous.

"You're right," Amber replied. "Maybe I-"

She stopped in mid-sentence. Amber stared at the figure that seemed to stare at her in the distance. At first Amber thought it might be a man looking at her while she had no clothes on in the water but then she realized it barely looked human. It was maybe seven feet tall, it looked to thin to be a man, it was a dark purple, and it had claws.

The Vulpix that had been drinking water was staring at it too.

Then it vanished into thin air.

"_What are you looking at?" _Squirtletwo asked.

Amber stared in terror of where the specter had stood. She felt chills run down her spine.

"We should go to bed," Amber said.

Amber and Squirtletwo then got out of the water to sleep. Amber put her clothes on and she and Squirtletwo laid down in the red flowers. Amber thought it was very soft.

Amber went almost immediately to sleep, forgetting she saw the specter.

Amber gently awoke to feel someone's arm wrapping around her midsection. At first, she thought it was Shane.

"Hold me…tighter," Amber whispered.

She turned over, trying to kiss Shane, instead finding a pair of malevolent, red eyes.

"Ah!" She squealed and jumped to her feet

The eyes were gone as soon as she saw them. Amber looked around, to see that she was alone and not in the same place where she had been sleeping. There was no pond or Squirtletwo.

"_Hello…" _Amber said. _"Squirtletwo…?"_

Amber looked around.

No one was there. She was all alone and it night.

"Squirtletwo," Amber said. "Are you there?"

Amber started walking trying to see if Squirtletwo was very far away, when she bumped into something. She looked up at it to see it was the figure, with the evil, red eyes.

Its dark purple body was covered by a black suit. He was very slender, its claws were ominous and deadly looking, its arms and legs were black in color, and its head had three horns on left and right side with a wide mouth that had a blood red tongue.

Its red eyes seemed to look into Amber with a feeling of…desire.

Amber cringed from the intimidation the thing brought on her.

"Hello…," it said.

Amber realized just how sharp its claw was as slipped the tip of its claw on the bare skin of Amber's waist.

"….little girl," it said.

It circled around Amber, its claw revolving around her waist. Amber felt so uncomfortable, terrified, and squeamish at that point her heart started racing and she started hyperventilating. Amber was afraid his claw may accidentally pierce her skin and leave her with a bleeding gash.

"He…he-hello," Amber replied.

"You know," the shade said. "In all my time I've never seen a girl with such…delicious flesh. A beautiful, pure pale, but with a warm glow in it."

_This demon or phantom is making a move on me. _She thought.

Amber's breathing starting increasing as her panic did. She couldn't help but feel scared at this being. He was supernatural, no doubt, some sort of phantom, but he was human enough to crave Amber.

Amber could feel the other claw start from her stomach and crawl up her chest.

"What a desirable young lass you are," he said. "It is so nice to have the company of such a fine little girl as you."

Not only could Amber feel sharp claws slowly prodding her waist and chest but now another claw sifting through her long hair. Amber placed her left hand on the claw running up to her stomach.

_You've got to leave. _Amber thought. _You've got to run. _

Amber couldn't seem to do what she was telling herself. She was frozen in fear, to terrified to make a decision.

"Who…who are you?" Amber asked, her voice shaking.

No reply.

Amber was getting scared now. This stranger was trying to put the move on her, whether Amber wanted him to or not.

Amber could feel the claw of his she was trying to hold in place grab her left hand.

"Ah!" Amber cried in pain.

The claw was so strong, twice as big as her delicate one, and it seemed to puncture into her palm.

"Now, now," he said. "How nice it is to feel your body. I wonder how nice it is to taste it…"

As soon as that thing tried to put his mouth on Amber's side of her chest she made him let go of her and ran away.

_Keep running. _She thought.

But the more Amber ran the more terrified Amber became, not knowing at all where to go and the darkness of the night seeming to engulf her. The shade was probably right behind her, lurking like creepy the fiend it was, ready to engulf her in his own way. Amber ran for about ten minutes that seemed like eternity.

Finally she got so tired from running she collapsed onto the ground, her knees in the flowers and her hands on the ground. Amber tried to catch her breath, her heart beginning to slow down.

"_What are you doing here human?"_ a voice asked.

Amber whirled around, so her back was to the earth. She looked up to see above her was a Ghastly. Its body was a purple orb with a mouth and eyes with a trail of purple mist flowing behind it.

Amber usually liked seeing mysterious, strange Pokemon like Ghost-types but right now Amber was scared of anything that moved. She slowly crawled away from the Pokemon and then stopped to answer it.

"_I was running away from…something that was trying to hurt me," _Amber replied in telepathy, just as the Ghastly was using. _"I got separated from my Pokemon when we tried to camp here. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."_

Ghastly gave her a perplexed look.

"You? _A human? Disturb _us_?"_ Ghastly asked almost as if she was stupid. _"Do you not know where you are?"_

"_No,"_ Amber asked. _"Why?"_

"_This place is called the Valley of Shadow Gate," _Ghastly said.

"_Why is it called that?" _Amber asked.

Ghastly sighed and gave her an annoyed look.

"_Why am I not surprised a human, even a psychic human, wouldn't know?" _Ghastly asked. _"This is a valley, a low lying area surrounded by higher ground In the day its as any other ordinary place. But at night reality sort of changes."_

"_How so?" _Amber asked standing up.

"_There is power that arises that can be sensed and if one can control it gives them great abilities," _Ghastly replied. _"I use it to gain telepathy. But this power comes a special attribute of this valley that at nighttime reality seems to come in contact with another reality, different then ours."_

"_You mean," _Amber said. _"Like another dimension coming into contact with ours."_

Ghastly nodded.

"_Quite right," _Ghastly replied. _"The power comes from either that dimension or the fact the dimensions are coming in contact. And when our dimension comes in contact with another sometimes from this valley at nighttime you can enter it. But sometimes, just as easily, someone or something can come from their reality to ours. Sometimes they can be a bit…sinister."_

Chills went down her spine as Ghastly said the word "sinister". He said it not as if it were a legend but as if he knew from personal experience.

"_It attracts us Ghost-type Pokemon," _Ghastly replied. _"And _should _keep out humans who would otherwise be in a very dangerous situation. Like you appear to be."_

She nodded.

"_I'll get out of here as soon as possible," _Amber replied. _"As soon as I find my friend, Squirtletwo."_

Ghastly nodded in agreement and Amber ran in a hurry.


	39. The Water Aura vs Demonic Darkness

**Chapter 39: The Water Aura vs. Demonic Darkness!**

"Come with me," a voice spoke.

Squirtletwo awoke to the voice.

It was a little girl with black hair in a pale sundress. Where her eyes should have been was a black shadow that obscured her eyes. She was motioning with her finger that Squirtletwo follow her.

"Come play with me."

Squirtletwo said.

Squirtletwo looked over to see if Amber was seeing this when she saw Amber was not there.

"Come play with me."

"_Where the heck did Amber go?" _Squirtletwo asked.

Squirtletwo jumped up, panicked, and whirled her head around.

"_Amber!" _she yelled. _"Amber where are you?!"_

"Come play with me."

Squirtletwo looked at the girl.

The girl stepped to the side and in the middle of the pond the water moved and formed a huge empty gap. Instead of earth at the bottom was a bottomless hole.

Suddenly Squirtletwo had a disturbing thought.

"_Did-did you bring Amber into that thing?" _she asked.

The girl smiled.

"Come play with me," she said. "We'll have so much fun. In there is the world where us spirits live. Come, to world of the spirits."

Squirtletwo started becoming angry. Her fury got to what seemed to be a boiling point.

"_Amber," _Squirtletwo thought. _"Did she go in there or not?!"_

"Maybe she is in there," the girl with no eyes said. "And maybe she is not."

That did it for Squirtletwo. Her emotional panic went wild and the circular markings on her shell, stripes on the side of her eyes and on top of her head glowed bright blue as energy began to come unleashed.

"_NO WORD GAMES! IS SHE OR IS SHE NOT IN THERE?!"_

"Why don't we find out," the girl asked and motioned for Squirtletwo follow her. "Come."

"SQUIRTLE!" Squirtletwo roared.

She inhaled air at the same time she let water flow from her shell to her mouth. Then she flung her head forward.

"_I'll destroy you!" _Squirtletwo cried.

From her mouth shot a pressurized blast of that eroded away earth!

The girl vanished before it hit her. The hole in the pond became filled with water again when she did.

When she disappeared Squirtletwo's anger started to recede and the glowing of her body stopped. She figured that the girl had nothing to do with Amber disappearing.

Squirtletwo looked around ran in a direction, listening closely, her psychic senses attuned to the environment. Squirtletwo saw three Ghastly as she ran floating above her. They looked kind of surprised at her presence.

"'_Ey look!" _one, a male, said. _"It's a Squirtle I think! What is it doing out here?"_

"_What is up with those stripes?" _another Ghastly, female, asked.

Squirtletwo stopped, turned toward the Ghastly, and spoke in telepathy.

"_It's Squirtletwo," _she replied. _"The stripes happen when you're a clone like me."_

"_A clone?" _one asked. _"Boy you're really lost, ain't yeah?"_

"_Look," _Squirtletwo said. _"Have you seen a human girl? Blue hair, blue eyes, pale skin, wearing a skirt?"_

"_Sorry, I haven't," _the male said.

"_Mean either," _the female said.

"_Yeah I sure did!" _the third one, a male, said. _"I saw it running just left a' yeah's ma'am! She was running from something. Something that apparently spooked 'er. Then a Ghastly I know talks to her, telling her to get out of here because its where our dimension crosses with the spirit world."_

"_What?!" _Squirtletwo replied. _"The spirit world?!"_

"_Yeah," _the female Ghastly said. _"Why do you think us Ghost-types hang here? To us things like that are a party!"_

"_First off you guys are just plain weird if you think that's fun," _Squirtletwo replied.

"_We get that a lot from outsiders," _a Ghastly replied.

"_Second off, thank-you and I owe you one," _Squirtletwo replied. _"Bye!"_

Squirtletwo ran off in the direction the Ghastly said to go. She ran for about ten minutes, all the while seeing other Ghastly, before seeing the girl with no eyes again.

"Play now," she said, less as an invitation and more like a command.

Squirtletwo gave her a cocky smile.

"_Lady if you know anything about me then you know that I _don't _take orders," _Squirtletwo replied. _"You want me to come to go the spirit world that bad then come make me!"_

The girl snapped her fingers.

In front of her appeared another bottomless hole, this one in the ground. And from it came a Pokemon.

The Pokemon was a vortex of purple mist with green orbs floating in it, like a bead necklace, with a green Halloween-mask like face (zigzagged mouth and swirling black pupil) that's bottom was connected to a rock.

"Spiritomb," it cried.

"_Oh come on!" _Squirtletwo cried. _"How is that even a thing?!"_

Squirtletwo looked at it critically.

"_How do you eat?!" _Squirtletwo asked it. _"How do you go to bathroom?!"_

"Use Ominous Wind!" the girl said.

From Spiritomb's body came a huge gust of invisible wind that flung Squirtletwo into a hill of stone!

WHOOSH!

Squirtletwo tried to get up before Spiritomb attacked again.

"Spiritomb use Rock Tomb!" the girl ordered.

"Spiritomb!" it cried.

It floated over to Squirtletwo and then started pounding on its back with its rock!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Squirtle!" she cried in pain. "Squirtle! Squirtle!"

_Boy this is both painful and embarrassing. _Squirtletwo thought. _I wonder what Charmandertwo's doing._

"_Do you know where you're going?" _Charmandertwo asked as they trekked through the woods in the middle of the night.

"I know where I'm going!" Charlie replied, looking at the map on his Pokedex. "And as long as we're being chased by the police I don't think it really matters where we're going, so long as we're far away from them. According to the map the best way to go is straight."

"_I still think that a strategy is in order if we plan to escape from them," _Charmandertwo replied.

"Well then you think of one," Charlie said. "While I carry out one."

Charmandertwo rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, due to the light of his tail flame illuminating the dark, Charmandertwo saw the Pokemon in front of him. It was brown, with a crescent shape on its head, bipedal, with large ears, and looked like a bear. It looked very cute as it sat on its butt in the forest floor.

"_What is that?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"Let me check," Charlie said.

"Teddiursa," the Pokedex said. "The Little Bear Pokemon. When it finds honey in trees its crescent mark glows. Because its paws are usually soaked with honey it is usually licking its hands. Teddiursa's parents, Ursaring, usually are near where it plays in the wild and attacks any that threaten its baby."

Charmandertwo's heart stopped.

"Urrrr," Charmandertwo and his trainer heard.

They both turned around to see a pack of twelve what apparently were Ursaring, Pokemon that were about six feet tall with a yellow ring on their chests, brown fur, a black muzzle, and huge muscular bulk, and five sharp claws on each hand paw.

"Ursaring," Charlie's Pokedex said. "Although it is a good climber Ursaring prefers to snap trees in half with its enormous strength and eat the fallen berries. It has an impressive sense of smell and can smell any aroma. It is known as a very protective parent."

"Teddi," the smaller Pokemon said.

"URRR!" they all cried with angry glares.

"So what's the strategy now?" Charlie asked, cringing from the beasts.

"_A very practical one," _Charmandertwo replied. _"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"_

Charlie and Charmandertwo ran at top speed straight ahead.

"URSARING!" they all cried.

The Ursaring snapped trees in half as it ran rather than avoid them. Charmandertwo and Charlie ran faster then they ever had to avoid the Ursaring.

"I hate the police!" Charlie yelled. "Why did _I_ have to carry this stupid package?!"

"_Just shut up and keep running!" _Charlie replied

And that's what they did for what felt like forever.

"Spiritomb!" it said.

It came down upon Squirtletwo to smash it with its rock again.

"Spirit-!"

"Squirtle!"

Squirtletwo blasted a Water Gun from its mouth! The Spiritomb sailed into the air from the fountain of water that shot from her mouth! When the water stopped flowing Spiritomb hit the ground.

Squirtletwo got back up, ready to do some more damage to it.

"How are you so ready to fight again after getting hit with two attacks?" the girl asked.

"'_Cause I'm not Squirtle!" _she said. _"I'm a clone of Squirtle, designed to be stronger!"_

The blue glowing started back up again on her markings.

"_I am Squirtletwo!" _she replied.

"Use Dark Pulse!" she ordered.

From the purple vortex that was Spiritomb's body shot a blast of energy the color of the night!

BOOM!

Squirtletwo dodged the attack as it blasted apart a stone mound!

Then she took inhaled all the air she could, mixed water with it, and blasted a Bubble Beam!

"Spiritomb!" it cried in pain as it was blasted away.

As soon as it did Squirtletwo withdrew all its limbs into its shell and spun its body! She gave up all her senses to her psychic abilities to guide herself where she was going! But as she sensed she sensed she hit Spiritomb she didn't feel like she hit anything!

As soon as that happened Squirtletwo withdrew herself from he shell landed on her hands and feet on the ground.

"_What the heck happened?!" _she screamed.

The ghost girl smiled.

"Normal type attacks like Rapid Spin don't work on Ghost-type Pokemon like Spiritomb," she said. "They're bodies aren't structured enough to be hit by sheer physical force. That can't happen even with a more powerful clone."

Squirtletwo smiled.

"_Then I'll just have to structure it," _Squirtletwo replied.

Squirtletwo drew upon all the psychic power she had within her and focused on Spiritomb's body. She could feel exactly how wispy the Ghost-type's body was, just as she said. But with her telekinesis she fully identified Spiritomb and sort of restructured his body so it could feel sheer physical force.

"_There I did it," _Squirtletwo said.

"Did what?" the girl asked.

Squirtletwo withdrew back into her shell, spun her body so it flew in midair, and hit the Spiritomb! Granted it passed through his body but he took the damage!

Squirtletwo jumped out of her shell to see Spiritomb fall down, face forward, unable to battle.

She stared at the ghost girl. Even without eyes Squirtletwo could feel her glare at her.

"A clone," the ghost girl said. "You have no place in this world. You are artificial, only an enhanced copy of the original. You are nothing but lab experiments!"

"_Don't be a sore loser," _Squirtletwo replied and smiled.

Squirtletwo focused her psychic power and the spirit became able to be hit by force just as her Spiritomb was.

"What did you do to me?!" she demanded.

"_Helping you pull yourself together," _Squirtletwo replied.

"Squirtle!" she cried.

She used another Rapid Spin and came behind the ghost girl and hit her into the hole that led to the spirit world that Spiritomb crawled out of.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" she cried as she fell.

"_Have a nice trip, see you next fall, and all that jazz," _Squirtletwo said.

The bottomless hole soon closed up and it became earth again.

Then Squirtletwo ran away in the opposite direction.

"_Now I've got to go find the sweetest girl on the planet lost in a place where the netherworld has come to earth," _Squirtletwo said. _"What fun."_

Amber quietly tiptoed through the valley.

"Squirtletwo," Amber said. "Squirtletwo."

_Where could she be? _Amber thought. _This valley all looks the same, there's no telling where all she has gone._

"_Squirtletwo," _Amber tried calling in telepathy as she passed a large stone mound. _"Squirtle-_"

Amber's mouth and waist was grabbed by huge, sharp claw! Amber was pulled over behind the stone and forced to stare into the evil, horror-inducing, lust-filled, blood red eyes of the shade that tried to violate her before! Amber screamed in horror but as she did the claw tightened over her mouth! He smiled as he heard he felt her scream.

"Hello little girl," he sung, his face becoming more of a demon's the more smiled. "Hello little girl."

Amber's heart raced, she hyper-ventilated as she knew it would happen. Amber even tried throwing him off with telekinesis but whatever power he had he prevented her from doing so. Amber deduced the sooner she accepted the reality of her violation, the better.

_There's nothing I can do. _She told herself.

"Vulpix!"

"Ghastly!"

From out of the corner of Amber's eyes she saw a flaming-blue Will-O-Wisp and a dark Night Shade attack hit the demon! It was the Pokemon she had seen earlier! They had come to rescue her!

The attacks hit the demon and did no damage to him at all. He apparently was very powerful

"Away with you!" he screamed.

From one of his hands shot a ball of pure darkness at them. Vulpix and Ghastly were flung away, to damaged to do anything more.

From his chest grew a huge, purple claw that slashed the right side of Amber's skirt!

Amber screamed in pain through the claw of the demon!

Amber was painfully aware of the about strike again. Just as he was about to rip the rest of her skirt to nothing, he was blasted off of Amber by a blur of water! Amber turned her head to see standing on a stone was Squirtletwo.

"Squirtle," she said.

"Squirts!" she cried in joy.

Despite her hurt leg she ran over to her Pokemon and embraced her.

"I knew you would come for me," Amber said.

_"I'm just glad your safe Amber,"_ she replied solemnly.

Amber turned towards the demon. He slowly got up after being blasted away like that.

"Do you think this is over?!" he asked. "Just the beginning!"

And there it was. Amber could feel within the shade two presences in the same body. And Amber was curious to see it.

Amber focused all her psychic strength into the soul of the shade. The shade looked like he was in pain for a second before Amber put all her telekinesis into it and he was split in two. There was a flash of light and Amber saw what it really was.

It was a Haunter Pokemon, a Ghost-type that had disembodied claws, a horned head, purple colored body, and instead of legs it floated. The other was a thirty year old man with jet black hair and blue eyes. He wore a dark suit, just as the demon wore.

"What the heck?" Amber asked. "A Pokemon and its trainer?"

Amber took out her Pokedex and it said about Haunter:

"Haunter, the Gas Pokemon. Haunter's body and tongue are made of gas. Haunter is said to come from another dimension because of its ability to float and walk through walls. It lurks in shadows, waiting suck out the life of a living thing by licking it with its tongue."

"Not just any Pokemon trainer," he said. "You may call me Aku Yoru. I am a dark trainer. I train my Haunter in the dark arts increasing its power by training it with the sinister energy brought here from the spirit world. What you just saw was our fusion with the power we have gained. Haunter was still as strong as he was without but I needed it to get close to you, little girl."

He smiled at her.

"I use the fusion to allow Haunter to get close to humans so he can eat and drain them of their life energy," Aku said. "Sometimes I'll use it to get young, beautiful girls like yourself. Sometimes both."

Amber felt disgusted with him calling her that.

"You're a sick and twisted pervert!" Amber yelled. "How dare a grown man like yourself try to defile a young, helpless girl like me!"

He stared at her.

"I can do whatever I want," he said. "My Haunter came from the spirit world during the night here and told me about the incredible power of the energy that arises from it! Why not go after you? You're the most desirable girl I've ever seen and I will have you."

"_Over my dead body!" _Squirtletwo yelled in telepathy.

"That can be arranged," he said. "Now that we are no longer fused the damage you did to Haunter is gone. So why don't we do this like professional trainers would?"

"As long as your dead by the end of this!" Amber said. "Let's show 'em Squirtletwo!"

"Squirtle!" she cried and jumped down from the stone.

Haunter got in front of his trainer and glared at Squirtletwo.

"You can have the first move," the dark trainer said.

"Use Water Gun!" Amber cried.

"Squirtle!" she cried.

She shot the Water Gun from her mouth as she had done moments before.

"Haunter use Double Team!"

Suddenly Haunter multiplied into a dozen of itself! But instead of just images they were black, pupil-less, mouth less shades, the same shape as Haunter! The image, seeming to have a mind of its own, dodged the Water Gun and it eroded away the stone hill Amber was pulled behind!

"Dang it!" Amber yelled.

"Now use Shadow Claw!" Aku ordered.

Haunter and the black shades' claws became three times as large before and in Haunter's case turned black! They all attacked Squirtletwo at once!

"Squirtle!" the Pokemon clone cried.

From her body burst forward a huge aura of water! It pushed the Haunter and his shades back! After that all the shades vanished and only Haunter was left.

"Now use Water Gun!" Amber yelled.

"Squirtle!" she cried as she shot water at Haunter.

Suddenly, Haunter vanished! It was twenty feet below where it used to be floating!

Squirtletwo fired another! Haunter vanished again, only to reappear in another location!

"Hah! Hah!" Aku laughed. "Ghost-types like Haunter have an advantage in mystical places like this! Not only that but Haunter is extremely fast as it is!"

Squirtletwo could feel Amber's anxiety flow through her.

"We can't hit it!" Amber screamed.

"_Here's something they won't expect!" _Squirtletwo said to Amber.

She used the same technique on Haunter as she did on the ghost girl and her Spiritomb! She focused her psychic power, identified Haunter, and restructured his body so he could feel physical force!

Then Squirtletwo pulled herself into her shell, spun at about eighty miles per hour in mid-air and headed straight for Haunter!

"_No!" _Amber said to Squirtletwo alone. _"Normal-type attacks don't work on Ghost-types like Haunter!"_

"Haunter! Haunter! Haunter!" Haunter teased Squirtletwo.

_Noob. That attack is just going to pass through my body like walking through fog. _Haunter communicated.

Then Squirtletwo's Rapid Spin attack hit Haunter's body and instead of passing through him it caused him to bend over in pain and cough up phlegm! Then he went to cringing on the ground in pain! Squirtletwo flew twenty feet above Haunter spinning in the air.

"_Pretty thick fog, huh?" _Squirtletwo asked her opponent.

"WHAT?!" Aku screamed.

"How in the world did you do that?" Amber asked. "No wait, you must have learned the move Foresight!"

"_Call it what you want," _Squirtletwo said. _"I'm epic."_

_"Just stay above Haunter so you can hit it easier," _Amber said in private telepathy.

"Haunter use Shadow Ball!" Aku cried.

Haunter stopped cringing and put both hands atop his body! He gathered the shadows from the night around and they formed a huge orb of darkness three feet wide! Then he launched it at Squirtletwo!

"Squirtletwo use Bubble Beam!" Amber said.

Squirtletwo jumped out of her shell in midair, inhaled air, mixed it with some water, and blasted a jet of bubbles from her mouth! It speared through the Shadow Ball and hit Haunter! Haunter started falling back down to the ground after taking that damage, his body otherwise motionless, when Squirtletwo's body burst forth with another aura of water and kicked him into the ground!

Haunter floated in crater of water, his pupils becoming swirls.

"We won!" Amber cried. "Our first Pokemon battle and we won!"

"_Second," _Squirtletwo replied. _"It's a long story but I fought someone else before this guy."_

Amber smiled at Aku as Aku cringed at the sight of her.

"_Oh boy," _Squirtletwo said. _"You are in a world of trouble."_

"Spare me!" he cried. "I beg of you to spare me!"

Amber unleashed her anger upon the man! She lifted him thirty feet into the air with her telekineisis. Then she flung him away as far as she could.

"AAAAHHHH!" he cried.

Amber took her backpack off, searched for any Potion she could find, and ran over to where Vulpix and Ghastly lay. She sprayed it all over their bodies, it already started to heal their wounds. After a minute or so they rose up.

"Vulpix!"

_Thank-you. _She communicated.

"Ghastly!"

"_Thank-you so much!" _he said in telepathy.

"_It's the least I could do to help you after trying to save me," _Amber replied.

"_But in the end I was the hero," _Squirtletwo said.

"_We were glad we could help!" _Ghastly said.

Ghastly flew off and Vulpix ran off into the valley.

Amber and Squirtletwo walked in the night until they were out of the valley, near a cleared route that led straight to where they were going. They drifted off to sleep under an elm tree. But before Squirtletwo went to sleep she thought she saw the shape of Vulpix hiding beneath the underbrush beside them, watching them.


	40. Enter the Headbutt Pokemon!

**Chapter 40: Enter the Head Butt Pokemon!**

It was the break of dawn, the morning had just born the early sun, with night barely over.

Charlie dropped the parcel in his arm, fell to his knees on the stony ground at the edge of the forest, and took long deep breaths. Charmandertwo dropped to his knees and took a couple of breaths. He was a swift Pokemon but not built for all-out running. Besides, they had ran so much from the Ursaring that Charlie's legs had basically turned to pudding.

"I think…" Charlie huffed. "…we lost them."

Charmandertwo nodded.

After about fifteen straight minutes of deep breathing Charlie rose up from the rocky surface of the ground.

He glared at the parcel Oak sent him to fetch. He and his Pokemon had been nearly hauled off to jail and now killed over what was inside. Charlie began to hate it.

"_So," _Charmandertwo said. _"What is our next move?"_

He stood up and faced Charlie.

"AH!" he yelled and ran at the box.

As soon as he got close he kicked it as hard as he could forward while Charmandertwo yelled:

"_What are you doing?!"_

When his hiking boot connected with the box it flew forward, hit the stone ground, and popped open.

"_What was that for?!"_

"For adding misery to my life," Charlie said.

"_But Oak said it was extremely important that it was given to him!" _Charmandertwo said. _"We have to deliver it to him!"_

"We have to?" Charlie asked. "We also _have_ to save Mewtwo, your best friend, from Giovanni or the entire world is doomed! Now which is more important?!"

Charmandertwo raised his finger like he was about to refute that logic but then he had a very disturbed look on his face.

"_You know what that makes perfect sense," _Charmandertwo said. _"Let's leave it in the dust."_

"Not just yet," Charlie said. "Team Rocket wants whatever is in it, so let's go over there and destroy it before we have something else to worry about."

"Char!" he replied with a spirited nod.

They walked over to where the box laid. From inside had rolled out a Pokeball with the top half that was black, with a white ring around the Pokeball, and a white T on the top. Beside it lay a yellow piece of paper with pencil writing scribbled all over it.

It's front was turned upward, facing them, revealing the white button in the center.

"A Pokeball," Charlie said. "_Really _groundbreaking. I mean, there are only like a bazillion different types of Pokeballs. Like we really need to get killed or jailed for that!"

"_It is pretty pointless to construct another ball to capture us Pokemon with," _Charmandertwo said. _"For Team Rocket to come after us over _this_? Pretty pathetic."_

"If you don't mind," Charlie asked. "May _I _have the honor of crushing?"

"_Why you certainly may," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie held his foot in the air above the Pokeball and then came down with his thick hiking boot.

But instead of crushing it his boot hit the white button in the center of the Pokeball! It opened up and out shot a beam of silver light that engulfed Charlie!

"What the-?" he said as he was dragged into the Pokeball.

It closed when he was pulled in.

Charmandertwo stood totally silent, stunned at what he just saw. Charmandertwo ran over to the Pokeball, pulled between the differing concerns for his friend and his own survival as to whether he should press the white button or not. He could not sense his friend's presence anymore.

"_Charlie!" _he yelled into it with telepathy. _"Charlie are you okay?!"_

No answer.

Charmandertwo scrambled over to the yellow paper. He was so glad that he had spent time (making Squirtletwo make fun of him all the more) learning how to read human words and alphabet. He grabbed and read the instructions written on it in pencil:

Both Pokemon and humans can enter the Time Ball. Once upon entering, to get out, one must press the white button, similar to a Pokeball's, found near where what place one enters. It trans-

And that was all it said.

Charmandertwo started getting worried. As soon as he felt his panic he took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and remembered and did what Bulbasaurtwo would do.

He thoughtlessly pushed the button and was hence dragged into the Pokeball.

Charmandertwo suddenly appeared in a lush green forest. The trees that resembled palms and oaks five feet thick and about a hundred feet tall, with dark brown wood and large lush leaves. Some had thick vines growing around them. The leaves formed a thin canopy with bright sunlight leaking through Surrounding him were bushes that grew purple, hourglass shaped fruit he had never seen before.

Charmandertwo could sense so much life here it intimidated him. The combined mass of plant life he could sense along with the presence of many different Pokemon. In comparison to the grand jungle he stood in he felt very small.

For something so big and with so much life, it was oddly quiet. But there was one life he sensed he recognized.

"_Charlie!" _he cried in telepathy.

"Charmandertwo!"

He turned to the side to see Charlie cringing on his knees on the forest floor, his face a brilliant smile.

Charmandertwo ran over and hugged him.

"Thank goodness you're here," Charlie said. "I was here for about thirty seconds and I'm already scared."

"_I know the feeling," _Charmandertwo replied. _"Do you happen to know where we are?"_

"No earthly idea," Charlie said. "Do you have any clue as to how to get out of here?"

"_I sure do!" _he replied and jumped back.

"_The yellow sheet of paper said that all we had to do was find a white button like a Pokeball somewhere and press it," _Charmandertwo replied.

"Do you know where that is?" Charlie asked.

"_It said it would be around here somewhere," _he replied.

"Okay," Charlie said. "Look for the button of a Pokeball in the middle of jungle _inside _a Pokeball. This isn't weird at all."

They started walking around, looking on the trees and ground for wherever they may find it.

"_So how is a jungle actually inside a Pokeball?" _Charmandertwo asked. _"I don't know much about the laws of physics, but I'm pretty sure this breaks at least a dozen of them."_

"No need to tell me that," Charlie replied. "If this was what the Rockets are after and Oak was talking about I see how this is cool and all but its not really much of value. These trees, Shane would love to come here and see this."

"_I know," _Charlie replied. _"Amber told us all about you two."_

They walked for about ten minutes, seemingly going in circles. The jungle canopy seemed to get thicker as they walked. Not much sunlight leaked through, making the forest floor clean of underbrush. They came upon a stream, with mossy stones that broke through the surface.

"Where is it?" Charlie asked. "Are you sure it said it was near us?"

"_Yes," _Charmandertwo replied. _"I'm sure of it."_

Charmandertwo sighed. He may have been a Fire-type but he still needed water. He bent down lapped up some of the crystal clear water to quench his thirst. Charlie did the same.

Then Charlie's stomach started grumbling.

"Oh great," he said. "I need food now."

Charmandertwo walked through the forest and in five minutes found a single bush with the purple, hourglass shaped fruit growing on them.

"_Food!" _he said.

Charlie looked back at the fruit.

"I wish it were some meat," he said as he walked over to the fruit.

Charmandertwo and Charlie sat down and started munching on it. It was sweet to the taste and firm when you bit in. After four it satisfied Charlie and three satisfied Charmandertwo. Charlie stuffed three more in his backpack.

"Let's keep moving," Charlie ordered.

They kept moving, going another five minutes before stumbling upon the white button on the ground.

"Thank goodness," Charlie said. "For a second there-"

"Cranidos!" a voice yelled.

"_Say what now?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"Cranidos!" it cried again.

Suddenly a gray Pokemon, running on two legs, came out of the forest and charging them! It charged straight at Charmandertwo!

Charmandertwo jumped to the side as the Pokemon ran through the tree behind him! Out of the top of it flew a flock of black Flying-type Pokemon. The tree with the ten foot thick trunk was snapped in half and crashed to the ground.

BAM!

The noise of the massive crash echoed through the entire jungle.

Charmandertwo got a better look at the Pokemon once it stopped and faced him. The Pokemon's main body color was gray with a blue zigzag pattern across its back and a blue dome on top of its head. On its head were four white spikes. The Pokemon's legs were large and powerful looking, with small arms and red eyes. It was reptilian in appearance and stood only on its strong legs.

"What is that?" Charlie asked and took out his Pokedex.

He pointed it at the reptilian Pokemon and it said:

"Cranidos, the Head Butt Pokemon. Cranidos are extinct now and live only after being recreated from the DNA found in their fossils. Millions of years ago they lived in jungles in the Sinnoh region. Cranidos were carnivores that brought prey down by Head Butt attacks. Cranidos have the highest physical power of any un-evolved Pokemon."

Charlie and Charmandertwo looked at each other. Each knew what they were thinking.

"_So that's why it's called the Time Ball!" _Charmandertwo said. _"We've arrived in the Sinnoh region millions of years ago!"_

"So that's why Team Rocket wants this Pokeball so bad!" Charlie said. "They can travel back in time! Well, now I know probably won't smash it if we make it out alive seeing how important is."

"Cranidos!" it yelled and readied to charge again.

Charlie began mentally bond with Charmandertwo, their minds becoming very close just like with their first Pokemon battle.

"_I can feel your consciousness merged with mine," _Charlie replied.

"_Then we're ready fight," _Charmandertwo replied.

But Charmandertwo could sense great fear within his trainer.

Cranidos lowered its head and charged straight at them again!

"Use Fire Spin!" Charlie ordered.

Charmandertwo focused thermal energy from his tail-flame, through his body, to his open palms. Charmandertwo could feel Charlie encouraging him, helping draw out his power. Before unleashing the heat he willed it to have a spiraling current course through it.

Then from his arms blasted a tornado of intense red and yellow fire! It consumed the charging Cranidos, turning the trees it hit after going past Cranidos into gray hunks of wood! From out of them jumped purple monkey-like Pokemon with a white hand on their tales.

"_That will teach you to mess with us!" _Charmandertwo replied.

When the Fire Spin vanished it revealed a shocking sight. Some of Cranidos's body had been blackened but other than that Cranidos was fine.

"_What?!" _Charmandertwo screamed. _"That attack nearly killed Growlithe and this one was even stronger!"_

"I was afraid this would happen," Charlie said. "Obviously this Cranidos is high-leveled but I guessed its type correctly. Cranidos is a Rock-type and Fire-type attacks are weakened when used on Rock-type Pokemon."

"_Just our luck, huh?" _Charmandertwo replied.

"Yeah," Charlie replied. "Just our luck."

"Cranidos!"

It charged at Charmandertwo once more!

"Char!" it cried.

Charmandertwo launched an Ember attack! Cranidos dodged it with a sideways leap!

"Dang it!" Charlie said. "Now it knows we're capable of special attacks! It'll just keep dodging until it finally goes in for a kill with a Head Butt!"

"_Then we'll just have to use Smokescreen!" _Charmandertwo replied.

"We have no choice," Charlie said.

Charmandertwo formed fire in his mouth and then launched a ball of black smoke of Cranidos! Cranidos sidestepped it when the ball exploded into a huge cloud of black smoke that engulfed all of them!

You couldn't see two inches in front of you! Charmandertwo stopped dead in his tracks.

"_Move slowly towards the white button," _Charlie said in telepathy with their minds merged. _"You may be practically invisible but Cranidos can still hear you. And you don't have much time until the smoke clears. I'll be hiding behind a tree."_

Charmandertwo slowly moved forward, one baby step at a time. He could hear Cranidos, thrashing around in the smoke, wondering where his prey had gone. Charmandertwo was so scared, it was hard for him to focus.

Charmandertwo couldn't find the button and after about three minutes of slow, silent, blinded movement through the thick fog it started clearing up. Suddenly he could see in front of him again fore six inches and gradually he began to see more. After about being able to see for ten feet ahead he saw Cranidos and then ducked behind what remained of the Smokescreen. Then when the fog got even clearer the burning flame on his tail was a beacon to the hungry predator that was Cranidos.

"Cran!" it cried.

It charged at him again!

Charmandertwo waited for Cranidos to attack and two seconds before impact with the Pokemon's blue dome of a forehead he fell flat on the ground. Cranidos sailed two feet over Charmandertwo. After he sailed over him Charmandertwo put both arms together and gathered the extreme heat from his body.

_Enough of these attacks have got to where anybody down. _He thought.

He could see and hear the impact of Cranidos's Head Butt hitting a massive tree but could also see he was carrying a stone. Then it whirled around to face Charmandertwo.

"Cran…?" it asked in surprise.

"Chaaaaarrrrrr!" he cried and launched the Fire Spin from his palms.

Cranidos suddenly shoved the rock into the ground. The stone suddenly grew a foot per minute into a boulder seven feet in length and two feet in width. It moved toward Charmandertwo through the earth, digging up soil as it sped towards him.

The Fire Spin stopped going any further when it hit the boulder. Both attacks went into a stalemate of force, neither going any further or backward. They just stopped.

"_That was __its Rock Tomb!" _Charlie said in telepathy. _"Put all your power into! Don't let up even for a second!"_

Charmandertwo gritted his teeth as he put all his power into the Fire Spin. It grew gradually hotter, the flames becoming more intense and the current of the spin becoming much stronger. Charlie's encouragement was making Charmandertwo let out more power then he intended.

"Char!" he cried.

"Cranidos!"

Cranidos picked up two more stones and shoved them into the earth, pushing them through the topsoil and forcing them at Charmandertwo.

"Charmander!"

He put everything he had into the Fire Spin attack until the boulders became superheated and all three boulder were blown into pieces!

As soon as the Rock Tomb shattered Charmandertwo withdrew all the energy he released by using Fire Spin. But within Charmandertwo the combination of Charlie's emotions and his and fact he had released so much power it made him on the edge of madness.

He would have cooled down if he hadn't seen that Cranidos was gone! Charmandertwo scrambled around, trying to see where it had run off to. Then he saw that Cranidos was running towards the tree the Charlie was hiding behind. Charlie's head poked out from behind in shock that Cranidos was running at him.

Charmandertwo was upon his realization:

_Cranidos used that Rock Tomb to distract me so it could go after the easier prey which was Charlie. Charlie's the target now because he is weaker than me._

Charmandertwo knew this was true as he saw the hungry glare in Cranidos's red eyes as he ran at Charlie. Then he remembered how the world was out to get them. How both of them were being chased by cops, Team Rocket, and all this came about because Mewtwo was never told that his friends were alive. Then Charmandertwo could feel Charlie's panic. Then Charmandertwo lost his mind.

"CHAR!" he roared.

The roar caused Cranidos to look back at Charmandertwo.

His body began to glow purple and lines steam starting coming of his body. This mental madness engulfed his mind until he had only one thought: to destroy his enemy.

"CHARMANDER!"

Faster than he had ever ran before he charged Cranidos and punched it in its back.

"_Take that!" _he yelled.

Cranidos slammed into a massive tree and rammed straight through it from the force of Charmandertwo's punch!

"Wow," Charlie said.

Charmandertwo just ran over to where Cranidos was struggling to get up. It looked up at Charmandertwo with a look of confusion. As he did Charmandertwo drove another fist into Cranidos's face. When Cranidos went down again Charmandertwo picked it up by its throat.

"_So you think you can just waltz over and eat my friend without any trouble do you?!" _he yelled.

Cranidos looked like it was terrified.

"_Just what I thought," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charmandertwo threw him away then slapped him upside the head. Then Charmandertwo started digging his claws into Cranidos's chest. Claw marks started appearing on Cranidos's body. Behind him he could hear Charlie's Pokedex:

"Outrage, a Dragon-type move where the user goes on a rampage until his foe is defeated. Afterward the user experiences confusion due to fatigue."

Charmandertwo clasped his glowing purple hands together and brought them over Cranidos's skull. Cranidos was slammed into the ground, making a crater. Charmandertwo looked over his defeated opponent. He was unconscious but alive.

Charmandertwo whirled around, no other enemy threatening them. But that didn't make his intense rage go away. He felt ready to keep fighting.

"That was some power," Charlie said. "For now take a rest."

And Charmandertwo was returned to his Pokeball.

Charlie ran over to the white button in the ground and stomped on it. There was a sudden flash of light and Charlie was on the place with the rocky surface, right past the edge of the forest he had come out of and not far from the foot of Mount Silver. The sun had come up more now, making it about six thirty.

Charlie walked over to the black Pokeball.

"So that's why they want you," he said. "So they can catch Pokemon from past."

He picked the Time Ball up.

"Just to think about what the Rockets could do if they could control what time and place they entered," Charlie said. "It terrifies me."

He minimized it by pressing the Pokeball's middle button.

"Which is why I will not let them get to you," Charlie said. "But I won't destroy you because you really are valuable."

He put the Time Ball in an empty Pokeball that was hung on his waist by the adhesive button. Charlie ripped up the yellow piece of paper, buried it under a loose rock and he picked up the parcel in his arm. He figured that if he carried it around with him the police would think that the parcel was where the Time Ball still was.

Then he walked straight towards Mount Silver, only a mile away.


	41. Blocked

**Chapter 41: Blocked**

Charlie hiked up the stairs of the rocky mountainside. They were obviously artificially carved in. The stairs cut through the steep slope of the mountain so it was basically a vertical valley. Charlie could hear the noises of Pokemon on the sides but he didn't look to see if any were there.

Charlie finally made it to the flat, plateau-like top. He observed his surroundings.

All around him was gray, bare rock that encompassed the hole landscape. In the landscape Charlie saw mountain peaks where the flat top rose into great and tall slopes.

"No civilization in sight," Charlie muttered. "Man what I'd give for some cooked food and a roof over my head."

He pressed, taking out his Pokedex to examine the area. Apparently Mt. Silver was near the Johto-Kanto border but on the Johto side. It would take about ten miles to keep going north like he was before he could go east back to Kanto. Charlie wanted to do that so he could go to Pewter City and defeat the gym there. Then he'd be one seventh of the way done with saving the world.

"Larv," a weak growl cried.

Charlie whirled around to see where the noise came from.

"Larv," it moaned again.

Charlie ran towards the source of the noise! Somewhere he hoped it was a human, then they could point him to civilization. Charlie ran behind him to see that a Dodrio had bathed its beak in the blood of its prey.

Dodrio was three headed, flightless bird Pokemon that's body was ball of brown fuzzy feathers with three pink tail feathers with three long necks each topped with a head. Each head had a set of three black feather protruding out if its skull with a long yellow beak. Its legs were long and could jump extremely high and had sharp talons.

Charlie thought of it as an extremely weird Pokemon. Dodrio turned all three heads towards Charlie. Charlie stepped back to take a look at its prey.

From Blaine's book Charlie had memorized the information on Dodrio:

_Dodrio, the Triple Bird Pokemon. The evolved form of Doduo. After its evolution it grew a third head. One head stays awake while the other sleeps. Each head represents one of the three emotions of joy, sorrow, and anger. Dodrio's triple sets of internal organs give it impressive speed and endurance to chase prey of at least forty miles per hour. Dodrio's prime weapon are its beaks. With three brains it can form complicated and sophisticated plans to catch prey. However, it may think too much and immobilize itself._

Its prey was a green, bipedal Pokemon that was about two feet tall. It looked reptilian with stubby arms and feet with one toe and had a red gem that bulged from its chest. Beside the red gem were two black markings. On its head was a tall horn and red eyes. It had a tail that somewhat resembled pinecone.

The part that was bleeding badly was the Pokemon's shoulders, obviously pierced by two of Dodrio's beaks. Dodrio would have stabbed more into the Pokemon's body if it hadn't looked at me.

"Dodrio! Dodrio!" it cawed, as if yelling at me to stay away from its prey.

Charlie glared at the Normal and Flying-type Pokemon. He reached to my waist and enlarged Charmandertwo's Pokeball. He looked into the eyes of the green Pokemon and it looked into his eyes. He communicated to it one single emotion:

"Compassion," Charlie said. "Go Charmandertwo!"

He threw the Pokeball into the air! It opened up, flashed a beam of light, and from the light appeared his lizard friend with a burning flame at the end of his tail and markings all over his body, indicating he was a clone.

"Char," he said.

Charmandertwo looked back at Charlie, then to the Dodrio and its prey.

"Ready to fight?" he asked.

Charmandertwo smiled.

"Char," he said and nodded.

He turned to stare at the three headed Pokemon. He recognized it as a Dodrio from a book he read in Amber's Remember Place. Charmandertwo knew it was a Flying-type Pokemon and it was very fast.

The Dodrio seemed to lose complete interest in its meal as it saw Charmandertwo turn the heat of its flame up.

"Dodrio!" it cawed.

_My kill! _It communicated. _This is my kill!_

It opened its bloody beaks, trying to intimidate him.

He turned up the heat on his tail, the power he gained from his battle with Cranidos having given him extra strength, he wasn't planning on backing down from this freaky looking thing.

"Charmander!" he cried, the flame turning up until it superheated the air.

It was putting out so much energy that it was creating strong gusts of winds behind his back. The flame had grown by inches now and a more intense red in color. With the powerful heat being felt by Dodrio it backed up cautiously, not taking any of its six eyes of Charmandertwo for a second, sweat becoming visible from its face as well as intimidation.

"Ember!" Charlie ordered.

"Charmander!"

He instantly channeled the heat he had been creating in his flame through his mouth and flung a ball of fire from his mouth!

"Drio!" it cried and jumped twenty feet in the air.

It came back down, its talons digging into the stone ground. It grabbed the helpless Pokemon in its beak and took off with it!

"_Its getting away!" _Charmandertwo said.

"Not on my watch!" Charlie replied.

They ran after it. Charmandertwo was running with his full speed, leaving Charlie far behind, but he still couldn't seem catch up Dodrio. It was so fast, it was at least twenty feet ahead of Charmandertwo and getting farther ahead.

"Use a Smokescreen!" Charlie ordered.

"Char!"

He flung a ball of smoke and a dark cloud of black appeared! It engulfed Dodrio but instead of stumbling through darkness it just ran through it. Charmandertwo turned a sharp left and avoided the Smokescreen.

Now he was running to the side of Dodrio, still behind.

"Use Ember at the front of Dodrio!" Charlie yelled.

Charmandertwo shot another Ember from its mouth! The fireball hit five feet in front of Dodrio, superheating the bare rock and causing it to break and rise to the surface! Dodrio's running talon got caught on a up heaved stone and fell face forward!

The green Pokemon that would have been its prey rolled out of its middle beak. It was bleeding pretty badly from its shoulders where Dodrio had stabbed it.

Charmandertwo raced over to where the injured Pokemon laid, moaning its name.

"Larvitar," it cried. "Larvitaaaaar."

Dodrio got back on its talons, all three heads vehemently hissing at Charmandertwo. Their glare of six eyes bore locked on target to Charmandertwo.

"Charmandertwo, are you okay?" Charlie asked.

He ran over to the side of the Pokemon. Charlie picked it up in his arms. Charlie got some sort of healing spray out of his backpack.

"Dodrio! Dodrio!"

_That is my food! Give it back!_

"Char!"

"_Not a chance!" _he replied in telepathy.

Charmandertwo stood his ground, readying to dodge the lightning fast Peck attacks that would spear through him if he was hit.

_It must think its so clever. _Charmandertwo thought. _About to use all three beaks at once. _

Dodrio's left face shot at him like a rocket! Charmandertwo moved his head to the right, faster then a bullet. Dodrio's right face shot at him. He kneeled to the ground, its would have speared cleanly if it had hit. Then Dodrio's middle face shot from directly in front, just what Charmandertwo was waiting for.

Charmandertwo jumped and landed right on the Pokemon's neck.

"Dodrio?!"

"Nice thinking Charmandertwo!" Charlie said. "Now use Ember!"

Charmandertwo focused his thermal energy and launched a red hot flame from his gaping mouth directly below him!

"Dod-!"

Dodrio was encompassed by a huge explosion of fire.

Charmandertwo jumped off of Dodrio's neck to see the majority of its feathers were blackened and its face was contorted with pain. Dodrio glared at Charmandertwo in anger but its right head seemed to glare the most angrily.

Dodrio rushed at Charmandertwo at top speed, so fast that he could feel wind rush from around it. Charmandertwo stood as still as a statue.

"Use Ember!" Charlie ordered.

Charmandertwo would have but rage was flowing through him for some reason he could not explain. Anger that had been building up inside him was now erupting. When he decided to act upon the rage his body glowed a light purple and steam started coming off his body.

When Dodrio's Quick Attack came straight at him he sent an uppercut to the middle head! Dodrio was stunned in pain and while it was immobilized Charmandertwo ran at it.

"CHAR!" he roared.

He started driving his fists into Dodrio's chest, jumping from the ground and knocking it back by a matter of feet.

"Charmandertwo!" Charlie yelled. "I didn't say use Outrage!"

Dodrio was getting beat back over and over again, immobilized by the damage Charmandertwo was inflicted on it.

"Stop!" Charlie yelled "Stop!"

But he couldn't. All he could feel was the desire to make his opponent stop living. It was his single determination.

Dodrio then jumped back, Charmandertwo's hands no longer being planted into Dodrio's body. He couldn't think straight. Where was his enemy?

"Charmandertwo behind you!" Charlie's voice yelled.

Instead of looking that away Charmandertwo blindly clawed behind him. His claw met a hard beak that had been thrust forward. Charmandertwo grabbed Dodrio's beak and threw it over his head!

Dodrio crashed into the bare stone, lying in a crater made by the intense throw Charmandertwo had given it. Dodrio slowly got up, damaged and panting. Charmandertwo was still only concerned about the destruction of his opponent, not ready to give up yet.

"Stop using Outrage!" Charlie said. "Acting on impulse will only get you killed!"

The Dodrio was backing up now, thoroughly intimidated by Charmandertwo's sudden rampage.

"Charmandertwo remember Mewtwo!" Charlie said.

The name Mewtwo rang in his ears and he remembered who Mewtwo was and he remembered why he was here in the first place. His rage suddenly began cooling over. His mind became less violent.

"Now use Ember!" Charlie said.

Charmandertwo, now able to focus again, channeled heat from his tail flame and sent a fireball at Dodrio!

The Ember hit Dodrio square in the chest and an explosion of flames engulfed Dodrio!

"Dodrio!" it cried in pain.

After the explosion was over and there was nothing but smoke Charmandertwo could not see Dodrio from behind the smoke.

He was panting, sweat pouring from his face and fatigue washing over him. He was exhausted and worn down.

"Why did you use Outrage!?" Charlie asked. "It totally wears you out and Dodrio was almost three times large than you! It makes no sense!"

The super clone of Charmander was sitting down on the ground drinking from a canteen of water Charlie had given him. He was resting from his fight with Dodrio.

The injured Pokemon they had rescued was eating the bare rock around it. Its wounds had been completely restored by the Super Potion Charlie used on it. Charlie had never seen this Pokemon before and planned to take a look at it with his Pokedex.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was!?" Charlie said. "I mean, you went from jumping on Dodrio's back in a calculated maneuver to using an attack that harmed yourself over an Ember?! That's something I'd expect my brother or Bulbasaurtwo!"

Charmandertwo stood up and faced Charlie.

"_I know what you mean," _he said solemnly in telepathy. _"But I didn't mean to use Outrage. It just…it just came over me all of a sudden. I don't know why but when Dodrio used a Quick Attack I…I just got angry. My anger came from everything."_

Charlie sighed.

"Your angry at the world," Charlie said. "That's all there is to it."

"_What do you mean?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"I mean your best friend you knew for all your life was taken from you, your forced on a mission to save him, and you're being chased through a mountain by the police," Charlie said. "Trust me, going insane is normal in a situation like this."

Charmandertwo stared at him in realization.

"I felt the same way when my parents killed in front of my eyes," Charlie said. "I felt the same way after Amber died. I had to be strong. And it killed me to resist the pain. But I had to."

Charmandertwo sat back down, drinking more of the water.

Charlie brought out his Pokedex and pointed it at the Pokemon through the glass eyepiece.

"Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokemon. Larvitar are born deep underground and eat the soil around them. The earth it eats becomes its body and causes it to grow. After it has eaten a mountain of soil it begins to evolve."

Charlie clicked the Pokedex's picture of Larvitar on the Pokedex and it showed the type of Larvitar, Rock and Ground.

Charlie found that peculiar. Dodrio obviously used Peck to bring that Larvitar down. Larvitar was a Rock-type so it was naturally resistant to Flying-type attacks. Now Dodrio was a fully evolved Pokemon while Larvitar was only a basic Pokemon but when Charmandertwo fought Dodrio it took to Embers and an Outrage to defeat it. Charmandertwo was a super clone that had taken a point blank Flamethrower without flinching and melted solid rock with his Fire Spin, all in his first battle.

_Could the Pokemon here be just naturally very strong? _Charlie thought.

Charlie put his Pokedex up, hoping that wasn't true and looked at the Larvitar.

"Larvitar!" it said, coming up to Charlie and hugging his leg.

"Well thanks," Charlie replied.

"_He said thanks too," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie took the canteen and put it back in his backpack.

"Larvitar!" it cried. "Larv! Larvitar!"

"_He's very thankful that we saved him from being prey to Dodrio," _Charmandertwo said. _"He said he wish he could help us in anyway we need him."_

Larvitar seemed to nod in reply to Charmandertwo.

"You can communicate with Pokemon?" Charlie asked.

"_Yes," _Charmandertwo replied. _"I can understand what they are saying."_

"Larvitar!" it said.

"I wish I knew what it was saying," Charlie said.

"_Let me help with that," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charmandertwo walked over to Larvitar, put his claw on its head, and there appeared a sudden glow from his palm. After this Larvitar looked kind of confused.

"What did you do?" Charlie asked.

"_I gave him the power of telepathy," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie's eye twitched.

"What now?"

"_What did you do to me?" _a voice from Larvitar came.

Larvitar seemed to be shocked at hearing itself.

"Larv!"

"_I did not at all expect that!" _Larvitar said. _"Wow! I can talk like a human! In my head."_

"Yes," Charlie said. "Apparently you can."

"Char," he replied with a nod.

"Well," Charlie said. "Glad we could help but we got to get off this rock so we can-"

"_Wait!" _Larvitar said in telepathy. _"Which direction?"_

Charlie and Charmandertwo pointed north, which was forward in this case.

Larvitar shook his head.

"Larv! Larvitar!"

"_You can't go there!" _Larvitar told them. _"There's danger! Really BIG danger!"_

Charmandertwo and Charlie looked at each other in slight concern. Then they both started laughing. Larvitar looked cross with them.

"_What?" _Larvitar asked. _"What is so funny?"_

"_We encounter danger all the time," _Charmandertwo replied. _"We've faced so much danger in the last two days it's scary."_

"Yeah," Charlie said. "Danger really isn't more of a caution to us anymore. More like a lifestyle."

"Larvitar," he sighed.

"_May I at least come with you?" _Larvitar asked.

"Why?" Charlie asked.

"_My parents did not care for me," _Larvitar said. _"When my parents saw I had not evolved after coming to the surface my father said that he would not raise a worthless son. He abandoned me and my mother followed soon afterwards. So I have nowhere I need to go."_

"_That's awful," _Charmandertwo replied.

"_Seeing as how you care for me obviously, I would not mind going with you," _Larvitar said. _"It is better than staying here. I've had to watch out for predators before, never really seeing the point in staying alive since nobody wanted me around. When that Dodrio almost had me, I knew it was the end but I also knew that nothing would change if I were left alive. I accepted death with a grim satisfaction."_

"My parents were killed before my eyes," Charlie said. "I understand how that must have hurt you."

Larvitar looked at Charmandertwo.

"_I never had parents," _Charmandertwo said. _"I had a human who acted like a mother and friends who were my friends."_

"_How can that be?" _Larvitar asked.

Charmandertwo explained to Larvitar what being an artificially created clone with super enhanced powers is. His mouth was gaping and eyes did not turn from Charmandertwo as he told him. Larvitar seemed at lost for words as he told him about his mission to save Mewtwo.

"_And that's why you have those stripes?" _Larvitar asked.

"_Yep, because I'm a clone."_

"_Wow."_

"Well we better get moving to face this danger," Charlie said. "As if we haven't faced enough of it already."

They walked northward in the direction Larvitar said the danger was.

"_I'm warning you," _Larvitar said. _"You will not make it past this."_

Charlie did not reply. He just pressed on.

The flat mountain plateau rose into a mountainous landscape. The flat, barren land began to give rise to great sheers cliffs. Where the land remained flat and rocky was in the center between two cliffs that gave rise to mountain slopes that had grassy savannas.

The valley was very wide as the cliffs were very far apart but Charmandertwo still felt intimidated by the cliffs that rose hundreds of feet above him.

"_There doesn't seem to be any danger," _Charmandertwo said. _"It seems fairly safe."_

"_You will see soon enough," _Larvitar said.

Larvitar was right. After another minute Charlie, Charmandertwo, and Larvitar looked up to see between the two mountainous cliffs was a great wall. The wall was made out of grey metal. There were many square openings all across the dam-like structure that was about a hundred or so feet tall.

"_A big metal wall," _Charmandertwo said. _"Is that what you call dangerous?"_

"Larvitar," he said and nodded.

"It's definitely in the way," Charlie said. "There's obviously someone in there. We just have to get there attention to let us through."

Larvitar started backing up from and cringing. It hid behind Charlie's leg.

"Hey!" Charlie yelled. "Is anyone there?! We need to be let through!"

"_Let us through!" _Charmandertwo yelled in telepathy. _"Help us!"_

They kept it up like this for a minute or so before something finally happened. A rectangle in the metal wall in front of them opened up like a door. Standing inside the wall was a buff looking man wearing an armed services uniform. It was very official looking camouflage with combat boots.

"I am Captain Mason Charger. What is your business?" he asked. "This a Johto army base that filters unwanted traffic between this area that is nearly in Kanto. Who are you?"

"I am a Pokemon trainer," Charlie said. "I am trying to get across so I may head to the city where my next gym badge is supposed to take place. You must give me passageway through this border and I will leave in peace."

He looked down at Charmandertwo and seemed to examine him over.

"What is your name, trainer?" the captain asked. "Are you a registered trainer."

"My name Charlie Click," he replied. "And yes I am a registered trainer."

"Follow me," he said.

He opened the door in the wall for them and gestured for them to come in.

Larvitar slowly let go of Charlie's leg and walked with Charmandertwo and his friend.

There was no light except for the flame of Charmandertwo's tail flame. There was practically no noise except for the low hum of an elevator as they rose up. They suddenly stopped. The captain opened the door, revealing a low lit room with stairs that led upward. They followed the captain up the stairs.

Charmandertwo, Larvitar, and Charlie walked outside to see that they were at the very top of the wall. They also saw that they were surrounded by ten men in camouflage suits, just as Captain Charger was. One of them held handcuffs.

"You are under arrest," the captain said. "For stealing the Time Ball in conspiracy with Team Rocket. We were alerted by the Kanto police that you may be coming this way."

They all held up an Pokeball enlarged Pokeball in their hands.

"If you refuse you will be taken into captivity with force and there is no guaranteed chance you will survive," Captain Charger said.

Larvitar looked at Charmandertwo as they prepared to fight.

"_Is this what you mean by danger is your lifestyle?" _Larvitar asked.

"_Pretty much," _Charmandertwo replied.


	42. Outlaws

**Chapter 42: Outlaws**

"Well, what is it going to be?" the Captain asked. "Are you going to come over quietly or do we have to make you?"

Charmandertwo saw the look in Charlie's eyes. He knew that he wouldn't give up, that he wanted to fight. But they were surrounded with absolutely nowhere to run.

_Even if I use a Smokescreen we'll have nowhere to go. _Charmandertwo thought. _But yet we can't take on at least ten Pokemon at once. _

"Well," Charger said. "I'm waiting. Hand over the Time Ball."

"_Charlie what's going to happen to us?" _Larvitar asked.

"And when you take the ball where will it go?" Charlie asked.

"To its owners," Charger said. "Whoever they may be."

"Look, I'm on your side," Charlie said. "I'm no Rocket. I quit them. I'm afraid that Team Rocket is the so-called owners of the Time Ball and will get their hands on it if I hand it over to you."

"And what makes you say that?" he asked.

"Because they would be the only ones who knew I was in Team Rocket," Charlie said. "Then they get the Time Ball, they get me, and they get my Pokemon. Do you have any idea what happens if that happens?"

"Very likely story," Charger said sarcastically. "Hand it over. Now."

Then Charmandertwo had any idea.

He gathered the heat energy he could and to his mouth. He added a spiral current to the fire.

Charmandertwo launched a tornado of fire from his mouth at a slanted position at the wall he stood on! It melted the wall's metal!

"What are you doing Charmandertwo?" Charlie asked.

"_Saving our skins," _he said privately to Charlie.

After the liquid metal flowed all the way to the ground it revealed a tunnel shaped groove that had been smoothly carved away by the Fire Spin's heat.

Charmandertwo faced Charlie, the men surrounding them to stunned to move.

"_Let's go!" _Charmandertwo said. _"Slide down!"_

"It'll be too hot," Charlie said quietly.

"_Slide down on top of Larvitar!" _Charmandertwo replied. _"He's a Rock-type Pokemon! He can resist heat well!"_

"_I can?" _Larvitar asked.

Charlie nodded.

"_Let's do this!" _Larvitar said.

Charlie bent down and picked up Larvitar with his hands behind his back. Charmandertwo grabbed his left leg. Then Charlie jumped into the slide and slid down on top of Larvitar.

Charmandertwo didn't know how fast they slid down but he felt like the wind was going to rip his head off! It was a long way down, maybe hundreds of feet down!

"_This hurts!" _Larvitar yelled.

"_I'm sorry but I had no other options!" _Charmandertwo replied. _"I assumed the heat wouldn't hurt you because your body is made of rock!"_

"_Oh know the heat I can handle," _Larvitar replied. _"It's the friction of going this fast on metal!"_

Charmandertwo looked to see that Charlie's hair was flying around like waving tentacles in the wind with a terrified look on his face!

He also saw behind him were men who were sliding down after them!

"_Wrong move!" _Charmandertwo yelled at them.

He channeled more heat and launched an Ember from his mouth!

"Char!"

The Ember burnt a huge hole in the slide! The men sliding behind them slid into it the hole!

Charlie's face showed even more terror after the fireball sailed two inches from his face.

"_Sorry about that," _Charmandertwo said.

He didn't reply, his face still contorted in fear.

"_This is some MAJOR burn on my belly!" _Larvitar replied. _"Pain!"_

"_I'm sorry but it was the only way!" _Charmandertwo replied. _"Hey look we're almost down there!"_

Charmandertwo saw that as he turned his head. He also saw that there was metal that had been melted from his Fire Spin. It was the equivalent of magma.

"_Right into some magma," _Charmandertwo replied. _"Larvitar hit the breaks!"_

"_What breaks?!" _Larvitar asked.

"_Stop!" _Charmandertwo said. _"Just try and stop!"_

"_I'm a worthless weakling!" _Larvitar said. _"I couldn't evolve! Even after eating soil!"_

"_No you're not weak!" _Charmandertwo replied. _"Screw what your parents told you! We're family now!"_

CRRK!

Suddenly they started slowing down!

The rate at which they stopped starting becoming gradually more until they stopped moving completely.

Charlie got up to reveal that Larvitar had punched his stubby arms through the metal to make them stop. There were ten foot long scars in the metal slide from where he had done this.

They were twenty feet above where the pile of smoking hot liquid metal laid.

"Hoo," Charlie said. "That was a close one. Charmandertwo, Larvitar, you were both awesome."

"Charmander."

"Larvitar!"

"Okay use your Fire Spin to clean up this metal," Charlie said.

"_Actually," _Larvitar said. _"Let worthwhile strong Pokemon handle this one."_

Larvitar jumped down to a bare spot on the ground! Larvitar grabbed at the earth and with his left arm pulled! He up heaved two boulders! He grabbed the boulder and it started growing! It soon grew to be ten feet wide and tall!

"Larvitar!"

He threw the boulder into the air then punched it into a dozen pieces! The pieces of rock were flung to the ground and landed on top of the liquid metal!

"_Too cool!" _Charmandertwo replied.

"Wow!" Charlie said. "That was a Rock Slide attack!"

Charlie and Charmandertwo ran from the slide and then jumped onto the rock pathway. They ran across it as fast as they could. Larvitar ran with them.

Charmandertwo whirled around. They were on the other side of the wall and still in a valley with nowhere to go but straight forward.

"Look!" Charlie said.

He pointed towards a staircase that had been blocked off from them by the army men that led from the top of the wall to the bottom. At the bottom were four very large army jeeps.

"There's our ride!" Charlie said. "Let's go!"

They ran for the jeep. Charlie opened the doors for them and pulled Larvitar and Charmandertwo in. Charmandertwo moved his tail forward so he wouldn't burn the seats. He sat between Charlie and Larvitar.

Charlie turned the keys, put the jeep into drive, and pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor.

They flew through the valley at top speed! Everything around them blurred in a flash of green from the plant life and brown from the rock cliffs!

"We beat them!" Charlie said. "I don't believe it! We really beat them!"

"_Yeah we did!" _Charmandertwo said.

"We beat the police, we beat the ancient past, we beat nature, we beat the military!" Charlie yelled. "We're totally unstoppable! Nothing can touch us!"

"_Can a flying bug, a triplet of magnets, or a humanoid top touch us?" _Larvitar asked.

"No," Charlie replied. "Why?"

"_Because if you look out your window you can see that all three of those things are headed our way," _Larvitar said.

Charlie and Charmandertwo looked out the window. Larvitar was right.

Behind them were three other army jeeps but between them and those jeeps were three Pokemon.

One was an Bug-type with gossamer wings that came from underneath its red back with black spots. It had a yellow underside, four white hands, red feet, blue bulging eyes, and two black antennae. Its clear wings flew at them. It was more than four feet tall.

Another were three gray metal orbs with six red and blue horseshoe shaped magnets. They all seemed to be linked together by magnetism. It levitated in the air, chasing after them. It was three feet tall.

The other one Charmandertwo was barely able to identify as a Pokemon. It was a blur of blue, spinning like a top towards them. It carved a thin row in the stone where it spun.

They were getting closer by the second.

I don't recognize but one of those Pokemon," Charlie said. "Magneton is the one…with all the magnets. The other two must be native to the Johto region, like Larvitar."

"_What do we do?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"Okay you two have to go get on the roof of this car and beat them there."

"_On the roof?" _Larvitar asked.

"Your small and strong bodies will help keep you from falling off," Charlie said. "I can tell you this much before you go. Magneton is an Electric and Steel-type. Steel-types super effect Rock but Steel is super effected by Fire. Rock however super effects Bug types. Electric does nothing to Ground. Know who to take on now?"

"Char!" he nodded.

"Larv!" he nodded.

"Go get 'em!" Charlie said.


	43. Battle on the Jeep! A Secret Revealed!

**Chapter 43: Battle On The Jeep!**

**A Secret Revealed!**

**Guys, if you read this please review it. I'd like to know. If you like it great, if you don't, I can use that and make it better. **

Larvitar climbed out the open window first. After he reached the roof he let his arm down to help Charmandertwo. Charmandertwo grabbed onto his arm and pulled him up.

The wind rushed past their heads as the stood on the bare metal roof, not at all threatening to throw them off.

The Bug-type and Magneton quickly spotted them and rushed at the two of them.

Charmandertwo readied himself, preparing to fight and dodge.

"_Hey Charmandertwo," _Larvitar said.

"_Yes?" _he asked.

"_This will be my first fight ever," _Larvitar said.

"_First time for everything," _Charmandertwo replied.

From Magneton's body shot a bolt of blue electricity!

It shot straight at Charmandertwo!

"_I got it!" _Larvitar said.

He ran straight in front of the Thunderbolt and took it head on! Larvitar stood up with no damage.

"_I'm being worthwhile again, aren't I?" _Larvitar asked.

"_Yes you are!" _Charmandertwo replied.

Magneton put all six of its magnets together and from them grew a metal ball that had electricity flowing from it!

"_How much you wanna bet that's a Steel-type move?" _Larvitar asked. _"That's heading straight for me?!"_

Magneton shot the ball of metal and it sailed straight for Larvitar!

"_Duck!" _Charmandertwo said.

Larvitar dropped to the top of the vehicle! The ball of metal sailed right over him! Then it swung back again!

Larvitar ducked again! Then it stopped in midair and shot directly downward at him!

"Char!"

Charmandertwo shot an Ember from his mouth!

The Ember burnt the ball exploded in a cloud of fire and smoke!

"Larvitar!" he cried in joy.

"Ledian!"

Suddenly the red Bug Pokemon flew from behind the cloud of smoke and charged Larvitar! Larvitar was knocked back, he would have been knocked off the top of the jeep if he wouldn't have pushed back against the Pokemon!

The Bug-type and Larvitar were locked in stalemate, the insect's head pushing against the horn on Larvitar's head!

Charmandertwo was about to use Ember on it but he could sense the life force of Pokemon headed towards him.

He turned to face Magneton, who was pointing his horseshoe shaped magnets in one direction again! Instead of a metal ball he was making an orb of blue electricity with yellow lightning in the middle!

"Char!"

He flung an Ember from his mouth!

"Magneton!"

He fired the ball of electricity! It tore through his Ember attack!

Charmandertwo jumped to the side, nearly falling off the top of the jeep! The Electric-type attack flew right past him!

"Magneton!" it cried.

It began to sparkle with blue electricity and it charged Charmandertwo with its electrified body!

Charmandertwo ran back as Magneton charged him! Charmandertwo then fell back off the top of the car! He hit the windshield, seeing Charlie very cross with him.

Charmandertwo gave a sheepish smile.

Magneton descended downward, nearly hitting Charmandertwo!

Charmandertwo then jumped on top of Magneton! Magneton lifted itself into the air and levitated forward at top speed! It swerved all the way over to the enemy army jeeps!

As he pushed against Ledian, Larvitar focused on the skin on his body. He put his force into pushing some of it off him!

"Larvitar!" he cried.

From his body came a whirlwind of sand and pebbles that through Ledian into the air!

"Ledian!" it cried in pain as was whirled around in the Sandstorm.

Then Larvitar grabbed the red gem in his chest and pulled it out of his body! It revealed the red gem had a red stone connected to it! Another gem quickly replaced it.

"Larvitar!" he cried.

Larvitar put both his hands on it and the boulder grew ten times larger! He flung it into the air and broke it with his right arm! The breaking of the boulder sent the pieces flying into Ledian!

Ledian was blasted away by the vertically thrown Rock Slide!

Larvitar could feel more power, in just one battle he had already gotten stronger!

"_That's right," _Larvitar said. _"I'm bad."_

Charmandertwo was flung from Magneton over onto one of the jeeps! He hit the windshield, seeing in the jeep a man in an army uniform and a girl with reddish-brown hair, tied up with ropes in the back. Charmandertwo couldn't believe his eyes.

"_Melody?" _he asked.

Melody seem to yell in surprise to his telepathy beneath her gag.

The army man glared at him.

Charmandertwo smiled and waved.

"_Hi," _he said.

He turned the windshield wipers on!

Charmandertwo was suddenly shoved side to side as from the wipers moving back and forth.

"_That is just plain Pokemon abuse!" _Charmandertwo said as he was hit back and forth.

"Magneton!"

Charmandertwo got on his feet to face a levitating Magneton, charging its body with blue electricity! It charged!

Charmandertwo dodged the electrified tackle but the Magnetonstill kept charging!

"Char!" he said.

He flung a Smokescreen from his mouth!

Black smoke exploded into a cloud the engulfed the jeep and himself and Magneton!

The driver couldn't see where he was going!

CRASH!

Charmandertwo heard a big crashing sound. When the smoke cleared he saw the he had hit another jeep! The army men driving each vehicle opened the doors and ran out.

"Magneton!" it cried.

The smoke was clearing and Magneton could once again see Charmandertwo. Charmandertwo ran up the broken jeep and from the roof of it jumped onto Magneton. Charmandertwo saw Melody as she watched him fly away on Magneton from the back seat.

The Magneton flew right back to the top of the jeep that Larvitar stood on. Ledian was gone Charmandertwo assumed that Larvitar had beaten it.

Charmandertwo jumped from Magneton onto the jeep Charlie was driving!

The Magneton put all its magnets together again and fired another hollow orb of lightning at him again!

"Char!" Charmandertwo cried.

Charmandertwo focused the heat in his body into a Fire Spin from his mouth! The Fire Spin burst through the ball of electricity and engulfed Magneton! It fell to the ground, part of its body melted.

"_Nice one," _Larvitar said. _"Still, I would have gone with some flying rocks but a flaming tornado was cool."_

"_Charlie we have to go back!" _Charmandertwo yelled.

"Why?!" Charlie asked.

"_Amber's friend Melody is tied up in the backseat of jeep!" _Charmandertwo said.

There was a long pause.

"WHAT?!" Charlie replied.

"Hitmontop!"

Charmandertwo turned towards the source of the voice.

He saw the blue top that had been chasing them jump onto the roof of the jeep.

When it stopped spinning it revealed that it spun on its head on this little point on its head when he jumped and stood on two legs. Its head, arms, legs, and a triangular section of its body were light brown. It had curved extensions on his head with black eyes. It had blue feet and a blue sphere with a spike on the end of its skinny tail. It was over four feet tall.

It glared at them.

"Stand down!"

Charmandertwo and Larvitar turned in the sound of this new voice.

It was Captain Charge standing in the sun roof of his jeep. Charmandertwo could make out the faces of two more men in army uniforms and Melody in the back. He had a megaphone blaring.

"If you do not stand down my Hitmontop shall defeat both of your Pokemon!" Charger said. "There is no guarantee that you or them will survive this if you do not stand down immediately!"

"Larvitar, Charmandertwo," Charlie said. "Kick his butt."

Larvitar stepped closer to Hitmontop.

"Larvitar!"

"_Let me handle this one," _Larvitar said to Charmandertwo.

Larvitar stared down Hitmontop.

"Larvitar!"

From Larvitar's body shot a vortex of sand and rock at Hitmontop!

But just before it hit Hitmontop jumped onto its head and spun! Hitmontop's spinning against the whirlwind of the Sandstorm turned it into a sideways breeze of dirt!

"Now use Rolling Kick!" Charger yelled.

The Hitmontop spun for a few more seconds before launching itself with the force of the spinning and swung a circular kick into Larvitar's gut!

"Larv!" he cried in pain.

The kick broke his rocky green skin! Larvitar fell back, defeated.

"_Larvitar!" _Charmandertwo cried.

He ran over to the side of Larvitar.

"_Speak to me!" _Charmandertwo said.

"_I don't want fruit I just want some mineral rich dirt," _Larvitar said, delirious.

Charmandertwo could feel Larvitar's life force. He was alive but that blow really gave him a hard knock.

Charmandertwo turned to face Hitmontop who looked totally placid and collected as he watched Charmandertwo prepare to fight him.

"Use Ember!" Charlie yelled from his seat in the jeep.

"Char!"

He launched an Ember at Hitmontop!

Hitmontop spun and the Ember was broken apart.

"Now use Rapid Spin!" Charger ordered.

Hitmontop spun at Charmandertwo! He was thrown back over the roof of the jeep! Charmandertwo's stomach hit the jeep's hood!

He got up to see that Hitmontop was standing on the edge of the roof of the jeep.

Charmandertwo looked through the windshield and at Charlie.

"Use Fire Spin!" Charlie yelled.

Charmandertwo stood back up, faced Hitmontop, and blasted a Fire Spin from his mouth!

But Hitmontop evaded the attack by using Rapid Spin, spinning in the same direction as the whirlwind of fire, and negating the force. It was just like what happened with Larvitar's Sandstorm. Hitmontop then stood back on its two feet and glared at Charmandertwo.

"Now finish with Rolling Kick!" Charger yelled.

"Hitmontop!"

Hitmontop jumped back on its head and started spinning again!

Charmandertwo could feel the familiar emotion of maddening rage course through him. He could feel it calling to Charmandertwo, begging to be let out. Seeing as how could do nothing with special attacks, physical attacks were the only way to go.

Charmandertwo felt the familiar rush of power and his body glowing purple and steam coming off his body.

Charmandertwo jumped back onto the roof of the jeep!

Hitmontop launched another Rolling Kick with its foot, powered by the centrifugal force from the spinning motion!

Charmandertwo blocked his swinging leg with one arm.

"Hitmontop!" it cried in panic.

Charmandertwo punched Hitmontop's face! Hitmontop fell of the jeep's roof!

Charmandertwo looked to see Larvitar was still on the roof, bleeding out from his stomach.

"Hitmontop get back there!" Charger yelled.

"Hitmontop!" it cried.

Charmandertwo whirled around to see Hitmontop jump back onto the roof of the jeep!

"Char!"

With the power of Outrage surging within him he slapped Hitmontop back with his tail in the face!

Hitmontop fell back before he had got on, his face scarred by the flame of Charmandertwo's tail!

After another second Charmandertwo saw Hitmontop jump back on, looking quite mad.

Just as Charmandertwo was about to impulsively jab into Hitmontop with his fists he felt the presence of Charlie within his mind.

"_I know you're angry," _Charlie said in telepathy. _"But you've got to get control of yourself. Stop using Outrage or you'll lose this one. Please, just stop."_

Charlie helped Charmandertwo get control of himself. The rage in him began to cool, the purple glowing and steam stopped coming off his body. Charmandertwo fully gained control of him.

"_What now?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"_I saw the Fire Spin hit Hitmontop but it seemed that because they were spinning in the same direction that it cancelled the power," _Charlie said, their minds beginning to meld. _"I want you to let Hitmontop spin first and then use another Fire Spin, but in the opposite direction of its spinning. Do you think you can do that?"_

"_Yes," _Charmandertwo replied.

Charmandertwo stood his ground, making sure he would not move a muscle until Hitmontop had.

"Hitmontop use Rolling Kick!" Charger yelled.

"Hitmontop!" it cried.

Hitmontop jumped on its head and started spinning again like a top again!

Charmandertwo carefully noted which way Hitmontop was spinning: clockwise.

He channeled his heat energy into his mouth and gave forceful spiral to the fire in the opposite direction of what he had been: counterclockwise.

"Char!"

The spinning blast of intense red and yellow flames launched from his mouth!

It engulfed Hitmontop and then sent him flying into the air, blasted away by a spiraling column of fire that towered over them!

"NO!" Charger yelled.

Hitmontop's body was badly burnt by the Fire Spin! Hitmontop came falling out of the air when the Fire Spin stopped coming from Charmandertwo's mouth!

After the battle with Hitmontop was finished Charlie stopped the car.

Charmandertwo launched an Ember attack at Charger's vehicle!

The fireball hit the front right tire and burnt off half the hood of it! The jeep came to a screeching stop!

Charlie got out of the jeep and ran over to the roof of the jeep. He climbed up on the tire to see that Larvitar was bleeding. Charlie took a Pokeball and dropped on top of Larvitar. It opened up, shot a silver beam of light out, and took the Rock Skin Pokemon in with it.

"He'll be fine," Charlie said. "You were saying about Melody?"

Charmandertwo jumped off the jeep and gestured for Charlie to follow. They ran to the enemy jeep.

They saw the three of them crawling out the jeep, hauling Melody with them by the ropes tied around her arms. When they saw the two of them Charger held his hand out.

"Halt!" Charger said. "If you harm any of us you will be charged with-"

Charlie pushed him out of the way. Charlie glared at the one holding Melody. He handed the girl over to Charlie, intimidated by them.

She wore a purple blouse and blue jeans. Melody was looking very pale, her reddish brown hair looking like it had not been taken care for days, and fear showed in her blue eyes.

_I haven't seen her in years. _He thought. _She's from a time when I was actually happy as a kid._

"Burn the ropes," Charlie said to Charmandertwo.

"Char!"

He shot a miniscule flame at Melody's ropes. They burnt away. Melody then took her gag off.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

Melody jumped into Charlie and put her arms around him! Charlie stood silent, stunned at the reaction.

"It's good to see you after so long," Melody said.

She suddenly kissed him on the cheek. His face grew hot and turned bright red. That was the first time a girl had ever kissed him.

_"That means she likes you, right?" _Charmandertwo asked.

"What in the world are you doing here?" Charlie asked.

"We came upon her and we were told that she was needed by a certain group of people," Charger said.

Charlie looked down at Melody. She gave him a helpless look.

"They were paid off by Team Rocket!" Melody said. "That Captain was given a huge ransom for me from the Rockets! Charlie, I don't know why, but the Rockets need me because they want...Amber! But Amber's been dead for seven years! Hasn't she?"

He looked down at her and sifted his fingers through her red hair.

"Melody," Charlie said. "Come with me. We're going back to Kanto."

Melody nodded, gratefully.

"Hey!" Charger yelled. "You can't just-!"

"Shut up!" Charlie said. "You're in no position to argue! If you're so low as to demand money from thugs for a fourteen year old girl you must also have been paid for getting the Time Ball! Now get lost!"

Charger and his men ran away.

Charlie turned and they walked to the jeep. Charlie stopped after they stood beside the jeep. He brought Larvitar out and got a Super Potion out as well. He sprayed the wound in Larvitar's stomach and in a minute it had healed over.

"Larvitar!" he cried.

Larvitar jumped up and hugged Charmandertwo and Charlie.

"You did great Larvitar," Charlie said.

The four of them hopped into the green cushioned seats of the jeep and drove off. Melody put her head on Charlie's shoulder as she went to sleep, obviously tired.

"They locked me up for days in a cell after hauling me away from visiting the Whirl Islands in Johto," Melody said. "They treated me like a dog, making me work for my food. Congradulations on finally being a Pokemon trainer like...*yawn*...you always dreamed of."

Until Melody fell asleep she didn't stop burying her lips into his shoulder and even afterward kept her arms around him.

Charlie continued driving while looking at the map on his Pokedex.

"_So who's this?" _Larvitar asked.

"Old friend," Charlie said.

But as he drove in the late afternoon he couldn't help but be disturbed by what he just experienced.

"How can this be right?" Charlie said. "Team Rocket is so powerful it can influence the army? To kidnap a girl. This is disturbing. They've fooled the police and enticed the military. I'm scared to think of what they're fully capable of. But how far does this conspiracy really go?"

_"Remember, this all revolves around me and my friends I was cloned with," _Charmandertwo said. _"They wanted to get to the clones they don't have control of. They thought they could use Melody to get Amber and possibly Squirtletwo."_

"And they may have if a random stroke of luck hadn't been that we saved Melody," Charlie said.

_"That means that they don't simply want Mewtwo," _Charmandertwo said. _"This means they will do whatever it takes to either kill the clones that pose a threat or even worse...they've found a way to capture us the same way they did Mewtwo. If we want to save the world with Team Rocket stopping us we better get to Pewter City. And fast."_

Charlie smiled.

"Pewter City, here we come."


	44. How Can You Miss?

**Chapter 44: How Can You Miss**

"Mewtwo use Psychic!" Giovanni cried.

Mewtwo focused his mental power.

he armor was in fact suppressing his abilities but he could in fact concentrate it enough to form a telekinetic control of Deoxys's Hyper Beam.

The beam of orange energy shooting from Deoxys's chest gem slowed but kept coming at him.

_I must not fail Giovanni. _Mewtwo thought. _I must get stronger!_

Mewtwo put more psychic energy into than he ever had before but it wasn't enough to keep it from coming towards him.

"Mewtwo now use Shadow Ball!" Giovanni cried.

Mewtwo put his focus on his psychic powers, turning his mental powers into an eerie darkness. It was the move he had been taught a few days ago. He focused the darkness into his palms and shot a ball of shadow at the Hyper Beam. They exploded on impact!

"Now use Shadow Ball from on high!" Giovanni ordered.

Mewtwo ascended as fast as he could. When he saw Deoxys, in its Normal Form, he glared at him. He turned his power into the darkness again and put it into his palms. Deoxys just seemed to stand there as he prepared his attack.

Mewtwo fired the Shadow Ball!

Suddenly Deoxys's head seemed to mould together in a mound as if it were clay! His tentacles became more flat and on his legs out popped two blue spheres! The Shadow Ball bounced harmlessly off of Deoxys!

_His Defense Form. _Mewtwo thought. _His transformations are becoming faster all the time. I must try harder!_

Mewtwo gave it everything he had. He fired Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at Deoxys but each one bounced off every time. A Ghost-type move should have been super-effective against Psychic-type Deoxys but his Defense Form's fortress of a body must have made up for that.

Suddenly Deoxys's body became thinner and now he had only one tentacle instead of two on each shoulder. There was a long projection that grew from the back of his head as well.

_Speed Form. _Mewtwo thought.

Before Mewtwo could barely blink Deoxys had tackled him and now he was holding his stomach in pain.

_Just ignore the pain. _Mewtwo thought. _I deserve it._

Before Deoxys could rush him again Mewtwo put his arms over his body and Deoxys's Extreme Speed stopped crashed him into the wall of the gym. Deoxys kept pushing, driving Mewtwo deeper into the wall, but Mewtwo wouldn't stop pushing back. There was only one other move Mewtwo knew at this time besides Psychic and Shadow Ball. It had been taught to him by Deoxys himself.

"Use Psycho Boost!" Giovanni ordered.

Mewtwo began to be encompassed by a blue aura as his eyes glowed the same color. From Mewtwo's crossed hands formed two great spheres of psychic energy. Mewtwo quickly put his palms together and blasted every inch of psychic power in his body at Deoxys.

From his hands shot a twenty foot wide blast of blue light blasted back Deoxys! Then the blue light started concentrating into a darker midnight blue beam about that was a fourth as big! It beamed Deoxys across the gym and smacked him into the opposite wall.

Mewtwo panted, gasping for air as he had never before released so much power at once. Even in this armor that suppressed his abilities that attack probably mortally wounded his sparring partner. He looked at where he had blasted him.

"_Deoxys!" _Mewtwo said in telepathy. _"Are you alright?!"_

Mewtwo saw that Deoxys had reverted to his Defense Form. That attack would have made Deoxys faint or worse if he was in any other form. This round went to the DNA Pokemon as the Genetic Pokemon was worn out from unleashing his strongest move so fast.

Mewtwo descended down to the gym floor while Deoxys reverted back to his Normal Form.

"You really had me there Mewtwo," he said. "I definitely see significant improvement and increase in strength in the few days you've been here."

Mewtwo nodded humbly.

"_Thank you master," _Mewtwo said.

Deoxys immediately started using his telekinesis to repair the broken parts of the gym as he had done before. Mewtwo drifted into the air and levitated to Giovanni. Giovanni was already getting out of his chair where he sat and walking to the healing room.

"You did well my Pokemon," Giovanni said. "Soon you will be able to handle challengers to the Viridian City Gym alone."

Mewtwo was aware of his increased strength without them bothering to tell him. He knew his Psychic powers were steadily increasing with each round he used his psychic abilities. But he really didn't care about his power as long Giovanni and Deoxys were impressed.

What Mewtwo really cared about that he was acutely aware of was that something was missing. Inside Mewtwo was the same question:

_Is this my purpose? _Mewtwo thought. _The reason I was cloned?_

He didn't dare share any of these thoughts with Deoxys or Giovanni. If he did they might think that he did not like them and then they would not like him. The only reason he trained so hard was because he wanted them to like him. He couldn't ruin it with trivial questions.

He was always perplexed as to why he felt like something was missing, maybe because he wasn't training hard enough…? Nothing had ever been taken away from him so that meant nothing was missing. How could he miss something he never had? Maybe he was just worried at his performance for Giovanni.

Mewtwo figured that the feeling that something was missing and his feeling for lack of a purpose he assumed was his fault. If it was his fault then doing what Giovanni said was the only way to be completed.

After Team Rocket would take over the world with his powers everything would be completed and there would be no such thing as the missing feeling because he assumed by then he would find purpose, the missing feeling would go away, and he would forever be loved by his two masters.

Except, he knew what he was missing.

He had faint memories of this feeling. It usually filled his mind with dim light and warmth. The feeling went back farther than he could remember, before he awoke in his vat of fluid. He could remember something…no someone.

He could remember someone that filled his heart with warmth. Every time the feeling came up he couldn't quite tell if it was more then one or not. When ever that feeling arose it drove the depressed feeling of a lack of purpose and the feeling of missing something away. It completed for a moment before it was gone, only to return in the vaguest and most random of times.

Every time he felt it he pictured faint glimpses of far away, distant places he had never been to and the presence of someone with him. Mewtwo would never dare tell his masters this but that feeling was the best thing in his life and always would be. It is what completed him more than anything.

When Mewtwo got to the healing chamber he took off his armor with telekinesis, laid his body onto the table-like machine and suddenly his wounds vanished. All his energy and stamina had been restored. He got back up and put the armor back on.

"Dinner time Mewtwo," Giovanni said.

Mewtwo nodded and made his way to the room where he ate his meals.

As he did Mewtwo wondered about the someone and the far away places he sometimes saw. He wondered if they even existed or if they were just some fluke that happened during the cloning process. Mewtwo hated the thought it was a fluke but he had no way of knowing so he pushed it out of his mind and thought about his next round move Giovanni had scheduled him to learn.


	45. Bulbasaurtwo vs Heracross!

**Chapter 45: The Secret of Viridian Forest **

**Bulbasaurtwo vs. Heracross!**

Bulbasaurtwo's eyes slowly opened as he woke up. He got up on all fours and yawned. His body had fully recovered from his injuries with his battle with Gliscor from his long rest.

Bulbasaurtwo saw Shane sleeping in the tall grass. Bulbasaurtwo grew a vine from the side of his bulb and cracked it just of Shane's head.

Crack!

"Ah!"

Shane sat bolt upright, hyperventilating. Bulbasaurtwo fell over backwards laughing.

"_Good morning sunshine!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane gave Bulbasaurtwo a playful smile.

"So funny," Shane said.

"_So very funny," _he replied.

Shane let out a huge yawn. He then stood up. Shane looked up at the sky and looked stunned.

"Gosh," Shane said. "It's already past noon. We slept that long?"

Bulbasaurtwo looked up in confusion.

"_It's past noon," _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"So what? We had a really awful and tiring day yesterday. It makes sense we would sleep a lot."_

Shane grunted in stress.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Shane said. "It's that it's not much longer until nighttime and we have to walk through Viridian Forest to get to Pewter City."

Bulbasaurtwo rolled his eyes.

"_And…?" _

"And you've obviously never been in a forest when it's dark," Shane said. "The thick of the woods is dangerous as it is. In nighttime you can hardly see so that makes it just the much more dangerous. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow."

Bulbasaurtwo rolled his eyes.

"_Come on!" _he said. _"I'm going to be the strongest Pokemon in the world! I'm not going to be afraid of some trees in the dark if I want to be better than all the rest!"_

"It's not trees," Shane said. "It's the things behind the trees. The Pokemon prowling around that want to _eat _you. Not to mention you can get lost so easily."

"_That just makes me want to go at it all the more!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Sounds deliciously exciting! The more challenges, the tougher challenges, all the more awesome!"_

Shane nodded.

"I have to agree with you on that," Shane said. "Let's go and try and cover as much ground as possible."

"Saur!" he cried with excitement.

In a minute the two of them were running towards Pewter City. The landscape had less and shorter grass. The land rose gradually until Bulbasaurtwo was running with his trainer up a green hill. All he could think about was the battle at the Pewter City gym.

"_I can't wait to have my first gym battle!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"It'll be the most awesome thing yet!"_

"I know!" Shane said. "It's so exciting!"

As they reached the top of the hill Bulbasaurtwo could see it. At the top there were a row of trees, all of them sixty feet or more in length. He and Shane plunged between to thick trees.

Bulbasaurtwo looked around him and realized he had never been in a forest like this before.

The trees were definitely taller than most Amber had shown in him in her Remember Place. Bulbasaurtwo felt claustrophobic as there was only about six to ten feet between the trees. Also, covering the ground was blanket soft, bluish-green moss. Every shrub and tree the moss touched it turned its bark into unnatural colors. The trees' trunks were a light cream color instead of a dark brown like most. The greenery of their leaves had been altered to become the dark teal color of the moss. Surrounded by a canopy of the teal color made the forest seem like it was a dark, gloomy place.

"_No wonder its called Viridian Forest," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"It's all the same depressing blue-green color!"_

Bulbasaurtwo jumped around toward Shane.

"_So which way are we headed, dude?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"I'm on it," Shane asked.

Shane pulled out his Pokedex and brought the map out on it. He stared at it for a second before putting it back in his backpack.

"From where we entered is the middle of the forest," Shane said. "Now that's the thickest part of the forest but if we keep heading down the center we should be there before sunset."

"_So we _have _to go on this route?" _Bulbasaurtwo whined. _"But I feel claustrophobic with such tight space and this viridian color is creeping me out!"_

"Well, its either that or we take two or three days to go Pewter City with the peripheral route," Shane said. "So which is it going to be?"

Bulbasaurtwo thought to himself for a second.

"_Are you kidding me?!" _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to keep us from getting our gym battle as long as I'm around. Let's do it!"_

Shane nodded.

He jumped on the trunk of a tree and started scaling it, being the expert climber he was. Bulbasaurtwo drew a Vine Whip from his bulb and wrapped it around a tree limb above. He swung forward and wrapped his next vine around it.

Shane hopped from tree to tree as Bulbasaurtwo swung using both his vines. Bulbasaurtwo was way faster than Shane but he slowed down to keep up with him.

"Man this is probably the coolest thing in the world!" Shane said. "Well, except Pokemon battling of course. This forest is so amazing!"

Bulbasaurtwo swung through the forest, the woods and all in it becoming a blur to him. All he focused on was getting through the woods, his obsession with his upcoming gym battle the force that drove him. He noticed the all the leaves of the trees were a bright yellowish-green giving the forest a bright, sunny look to it.

_But that can't be right. _He thought. _Just a second ago it was a gloomy teal._

Then Bulbasaurtwo saw the leaves' color slowly go from the bright, sunny green to the darker, gloomy green.

"_Cool," _he said. _"Bipolar leaves."_

Bulbasaurtwo kept going until about an hour. By that point they had covered a lot of ground.

"Hey Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane yelled. "Stop!"

He gradually slowed down. After he came to a halt he let go of the trees his vines held onto and jumped back down onto the soft viridian floor. Shane came running up to him, panting with his palms on his knees. After catching his breath he stood straight up.

"Let's take a break," Shane said. "A few feet from here I spotted a stream we can drink out of."

"Bulbasaur!" he replied.

They walked back twenty feet to find the stream that splashed over rocks that had the viridian moss covering them. Bulbasaurtwo could even see at through the crystal clear water could see moss was growing at the very bottom.

Beside the stream crawled a yellow worm-like Pokemon with a purple ball for a mouth, little spherical legs, a sharp stinger on its head, and tail. Bulbasaurtwo recognized it as a Weedle.

Shane immediately started gulping down water as fast as possible, thirsty from the tree hoping. Bulbasaurtwo started lapping up water too. As Bulbasaurtwo did he saw a red creature that swam speedily in the water. After Shane had his fill he leaned back with a refreshing sigh.

"Ah," Shane said. "Now all I need to do is fill my hunger."

"_I don't see any berries anywhere," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"I don't want any fruit," Shane said. "It's fishing time! Did you see any of the Magikarp in the water?"

"Saur."

Bulbasaurtwo shook his head.

"Pull one out with your Vine Whip and we'll eat!" Shane said.

"Saur!"

Bulbasaurtwo extended a vine from beneath his flower bulb into the water. He wrapped it around the body of the Magikarp and pulled it out of the water. It was a fish-like Pokemon with a red body, a yellow crown on the top of its head, two whiskers at the front of its mouth, two fins to the side, a wide tailfin and stupid, blank look like it had no idea what was going on.

"Magikarp," it said blankly. "Magikarp."

_I am no longer in water. _It communicated.

Bulbasaurtwo stared at it, perplexed.

"Well, time to cook it," Shane said. "I think it's like the only Pokemon that can be defeated by sheer human strength. That's why no one cares about."

"Magikarp," it kept saying.

_No longer in water. _Magikarp said. _No longer feel current._

"_And apparently not the sharpest crayon in the pack," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane gathered up some fallen branches and moss in a pile. Shane got a lighter out of his backpack and lit the pile on fire.

"Hold the fishy over the fire," Shane said.

"_But it's a Water-type!" _Bulbasaurtwo said as wrapped his vine around the tailfin of the creature and held in the rising fire. _"How will it cook so easily-?"_

"Magikarp!"

_I fell pain._

Bulbasaurtwo saw the Magikarp already started to roast in the fire. Its red body was quickly becoming a charred black.

"_It's really weak isn't it?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"And that's why nobody cares about it," Shane said.

After it had been thoroughly cooked Shane bit into the Magikarp with his bare hands.

"Oh yum," Shane said. "That hit's the spot. Want a bite?"

Bulbasaurtwo shook his head.

"_I'm an herbivore," _he replied.

"More for me!" he said.

But just as Shane began biting into the roasted Magikarp, Bulbasaurtwo felt a strange presence with his psychic sense. The telepathic feeling he got was so strange.

_It feels like they're everywhere at once. _He thought.

Suddenly a gust of wind carrying leaves rushed forward. It was so strong that it immediately blew out the fire Shane had made. A flying leaf slapped Shane in the face as he ate.

In the wind he could feel the concentrated presence of the once omnipresent being.

"_Leave now!" _telepathy from the wind said.

The voice made Bulbasaurtwo jump! Shane flung his meal into the air as he was startled. It came back down and hit him in the head.

"Who's there?" Shane asked.

They both looked around. There was no one besides them there except for the Weedle crawling on the ground beside them. However, as soon as the telepathy sounded through their minds the Weedle stopped crawling.

"_This is my domain human," _it said. _"I live at the very center of this forest as I rule over it. No one enters unless I allow them to. And I shall not allow a clone to exist in my woodland."_

"_What?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"_Yes," _it said. _"I see your mind, clone. You are nothing more than a copy, an artificial being fabricated by human knowledge, made with unnatural hidden power and abilities. You are not welcome to my forest, a place entirely of nature. You do not belong here, one such as yourself that was copied and made for the sole purpose of destruction. The human, a creature of nature, may come as he likes but the clone must leave, never to return."_

"_That is so not fair!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"So what if I'm a clone?!"_

"_I told you," _it said. _"Freaks of filthy human technology and disgusting manipulation of natural processes are not allowed to enter into a habitat of nature and balanced coexistence. As the ruler of this forest I demand that you leave, never to return."_

"And if he doesn't?!" Shane said.

The wind full of leaves became harsher.

"_Then both of you shall die," _it said. _"On my command."_

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo faced each other and grinned.

"_You know," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"On my way to my first gym battle I could use a good warm-up. Bring it on."_

Shane nodded as well.

"We don't ever back down from a challenge," he said.

The wind immediately stopped.

Suddenly the viridian moss started changing colors. Instead of bluish-green it slowly became a darker, dismal blue color. The trees' leaves went from their viridian color to the same dark blue. The forest suddenly became dark shadowy place, which light didn't seem to touch.

Suddenly the tree limbs above Bulbasaurtwo started growing towards each other, forming a thick canopy that blocked all sunlight.

"Water break is officially over," Shane said. "Start swinging!"

Bulbasaurtwo drew his Vine Whip from his bulb. His strength had grown since his battle with Executive Miles. Now his vines were just as slim but faster and stronger. The bulbous ends did not show that undeveloped flower anymore but it had grown over with green.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

He threw his vines around two tree limbs! Shane grabbed onto his left vine and gripped it as tightly as possible!

Bulbasaurtwo let go of the ground and swung above the forest floor! Bulbasaurtwo didn't have much light but he could at least see ten feet away. As he swung maneuvered tree after tree, being careful as not to let Shane get hit by anything.

Out of the corner of his eye Bulbasaurtwo saw a huge branch shoot directly at him!

"Drop!" Shane yelled.

Bulbasaurtwo immediately let go of his vines' hold on the trees and fell to the ground! The branch missed him above.

"_That was a close one," _Shane said.

Suddenly the tree limb turned towards him and shot directly at him again!

"Use your Vine Whip!" Shane cried.

"Saur!"

As quick as lightning he struck the branch with his vine! The branch broke in half like wet paper! The broken tree fell to the ground.

"Let's go!" Shane cried.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo ran as fast as they could through the forest. They flew through the forest. Bulbasaurtwo had to jump to dodge the trees in the tight space. Everything around them was as shadowy and dark as nighttime.

The vegetation around them was growing in key places, cutting off their escape routes. At one point Shane and Bulbasaurtwo had to jump four feet to narrowly avoid a growing bush. Suddenly they could feel wind again.

"_Leave now and I will spare you," _the voice said.

"Bring it on!" Shane said. "We're not scared of you!"

"_Yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"I'm going to be the strongest Pokemon there ever was! You can throw anything you have at me!"_

"_It is your demise."_

After the wind stopped the branches began regressing back to their normal length. Bulbasaurtwo could see the light of the late afternoon again. The underbrush stopped rapidly growing.

"_Mighty warrior of the forest, the ruler of your home commands you to kill these invaders."_

"Bee!" a cry was heard.

Bulbasaurtwo saw a yellow blur come out a tree and fly straight at them! It was heading straight towards Shane! Bulbasaurtwo jumped onto Shane and he fell towards the ground! The flying blur narrowly missed them.

"Thanks," Shane said.

"_Anytime," _Bulbasaurtwo said and jumped off Shane.

Shane stood up and they both faced their opponent who had been commanded to fight them.

It was obviously a Bug-type Pokemon with about three feet tall that hovered on four clear wings on its back, a yellow body with three body sections and two red eyes with a head that came down to a pointy mouth with two antennae. On its lowest body section it had two black rings and a stinger and on its arms were two silver, drill shaped stingers.

"Beedrill!" it cried.

Shane got out his Pokedex that took data on the Pokemon:

"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokemon. It flies at high speeds and stabs its foes using Twineedle with its arm stingers and Poison Sting with its bottom stinger. The bottom stinger secretes the most potent poison. A Beedrill is vicious when it comes to guarding its territory and is known to attack in swarms."

"Beedrill! Beedrill!"

_Prepare to die in the name of the lord of the forest! _It communicated.

"I thought I'd never get to a good battle!" Shane said.

The Beedrill glared down at Bulbasaurtwo, pointing at it with both its arm stingers.

Beedrill's stingers detached from its arms and shot directly at Bulbasaurtwo!

"Knock the Pin Missile away with your Vine Whip!" Shane ordered.

Bulbasaurtwo withdrew his Vine Whip and deflected the large stingers away!

The samurai was just walking along in the Viridian Forest alone, walking through the thickest part of Viridian forest.

"Boy I can't wait to battle that black haired trainer with the Pikachu I met yesterday again someday," he said. "That'll be awesome!"

Suddenly a Pin Missile that Bulbasaurtwo had deflected (as the samurai was only thirty feet from the battle scene of him vs. Beedrill) hit the samurai in the side. It pierced through his armor into his skin. He fell down on the soft viridian moss, bleeding.

"Or maybe I won't," he said.

"Bee!" it cried.

Beedrill's arms immediately grew another set of drill shaped stingers!

"Drill!" it cried.

"_Did you just see that?!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"They grew back!"_

"Don't worry!" Shane said. "You can take them!"

"Beedrill!" it cried.

Immediately it shot the next two Pin Missiles at him!

Bulbasaurtwo swatted each one away in midair with the vines he grew from his body! Each one was sent hurling into a tree or the ground with more force than Beedrill had fired them! It was done effortlessly.

"_This is too easy!" _Bulbasaurtwo. _"I could do this all day!"_

Beedrill immediately grew knew stingers and started firing again! And after those he regenerated his stingers again and shot at him again!

But Bulbasaurtwo effortlessly beat made them fly in another direction with his Vine Whip!

"Now go and use Tackle!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!"

He ran at Beedrill as he Vine Whipped the Pin Missile away! As soon as was two feet in front of where Beedrill was hovering in the air he jumped at him with all his power!

"Saur!"

Bulbasaurtwo's face rammed into Beedrill's!

It fell to the forest floor with Bulbasaurtwo landing on all fours behind it. He withdrew his vines back into his bulb.

"Nice job!" Shane said.

He nodded back at him.

"Butterfree!"

Bulbasaurtwo turned around to see flying out of the forest was a butterfly with a purple body, white wings with black veins, red compound eyes and two thick blue legs.

"That's a Butterfree," Shane said.

"Free!" it cried.

It began flapping its black and white wings with apparently all of its force and blew a huge wind at Bulbasaurtwo!

The wind directly hit Bulbasaurtwo but he hardly felt anything. He didn't move one inch from where he stood and felt no pain from the attack.

"_Your not very strong are you?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Butterfree! Free! Free!" it cried.

"Take care of this with a Vine Whip," Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo drew one vine out of the left side of his bulb and whipped Butterfree's purple body!

It fell to the ground, a red mark across its body where Bulbasaurtwo had whipped it.

"_Well that was easy," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"Yeah," Shane said. "I guess that's the best they could do!"

Bulbasaurtwo then got an idea.

"_Hey Shane!"_ Bulbasaurtwo said. _"What do you say we head down the very center of the woods and pay a beating to whoever rules this place!"_

Shane smiled.

"Sounds good!" Shane said. "Maybe they'll be tougher than these Bug-type Pokemon!"

Shane pointed forwards.

"That way!"

They both took off in a sprint through the woods! Bulbasaurtwo was running as fast as he could, knowing the 'rule of Viridian Forest' must be scared now!

"_Here that?!" _Bulbasaurtwo said for all to know. _"We're coming for!"_

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo saw a blue Pokemon fly above him! He saw the Pokemon's gossamer wings beat across its back like a silver sun! It looked down at him kind and seemed to wave.

It was a beetle that was four feet tall with a shiny blue exoskeleton, a round, ovular body, slim segmented arms and legs with nails for hands and feet, two stiff antennae which grew out both sides of the base of its one foot tall horn with sharp extension at the end if it is a male or curved extensions if a female."

The Pokemon suddenly grabbed onto a tree. It dug its nails on its hands and feet into a tree branch. It looked at the one of many red flowers growing on the tree and placed its mouth in the center of the petals where the pollen was and started sucking the pollen out.

"_Is that thing supposed to fight us?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Let me check it out," Shane said.

He took out his Pokedex and recorded data on the Pokemon:

"Heracross, the Single Horn Pokemon. Its exoskeleton is steel-hard. Heracross conglomerate in thick forests to eat sap and pollen. A Heracross are known for being extremely powerful Bug-type and Fighting-type Pokemon that can fling objects more than 100 times it own body weight."

Shane put his Pokedex back in his bag.

There Heracross turned away from its meal of flower pollen and stared at Bulbasaurtwo.

"Heracross," he said.

_Hi. _He communicated.

The exoskeleton on his back opened up and he flew down on his gossamer wings. He stood before Bulbasaurtwo, looking kind of nervous.

"Saur?"

"_Are you here to battle us?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked in telepathy.

"Heracross," he said.

_No. Why would I do that? I don't even like fighting._

He shook his head.

Suddenly Heracross's yellow eyes with black irises turned blue!

"Heracross!" he yelled, almost as if he was in pain.

The yellow of his eyes began to glow a misty blue color, his gentle black pupils becoming enflamed with ferocity.

Suddenly Heracross stood above Bulbasaurtwo not as if to greet him but as if to fight him.

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"_I happened," _the voice of Viridian Forest said but from Heracross.

"_Wow!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"_You see," _it said through Heracross. _"Because I rule the forest itself than whatever living thing resides here as its home I can freely control."_

"So now you're controlling Heracross just like you controlled those other Bug-type Pokemon!" Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo glared into the eyes of his enemy.

The ruler of Viridian Forest shook Heracross's head.

"_Not exactly," _it replied. _"You see most Pokemon that reside here obey me because they believe that a clone like you will only bring chaos to my forest. They know I would not lie for I am the protector of these woods. But since I control this place I can freely control its residents at will." _

It raised Heracross's left claw.

"_This particular Pokemon is very powerful, but did not believe me when I said you would bring harm to our home. Instead of fighting you he tried to meet you. So I just took over his mind."_

Bulbasaurtwo glared ferociously at his opponent.

"Using Heracross's strength for you own selfish gain?!" Shane said. "That's incredibly low!"

"_It is no different than what you trainers do," _It replied. _"You use Pokemon to fight for you as I am doing."_

"_But Shane's my friend and I like fighting too!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"_Humans and Pokemon as equals," _it replied. _"That can never be. There will always be a gorge between them. Especially clones."_

"_That is it!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

He used Vine Whip!

Heracross's arms blocked the whip of each vine! But he just stayed there, holding off the vines with his strength, not gaining any ground.

"_You want to talk smack against me because I'm a clone?!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled. _"Do you think that's my fault?! Now you say humans and Pokemon will never be one!"_

Heracross's eyes glared at Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Shane!" _he said. _"Let's show this guy just how far apart we are!"_

"Okay," Shane said. "Now use Tackle!"

Bulbasaurtwo charged at Heracross with all his speed!

Heracross let go of the vines and flew directly upward! Bulbasaurtwo landed on all fours where Heracross had stood and watched him soar below the trees.

"_You want me so bad why don't you come and get me?" _it said.

"Swing after it Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!"

He grew the vines from the sides of his bulb and wrapped them around two tree limbs. Shane ran over and grabbed onto the right vine.

Bulbasaurtwo swung through Viridian Forest on his Vine Whip! His power, strengthened by the experience he had just gained from defeating Beedrill and Butterfree, was higher than it had ever been before!

Bulbasaurtwo stayed on Heracross's tail, pursuing after it with all his intensity.

"_Impressive, clone," _it said. _"You're unnatural abilities make you faster and stronger than any Bulbasaur I have ever seen. You are merely a creature of destruction, disgusting in the vision of the natural order."_

"_You are who you are," _he replied.

"_Let's see the end of those limits, shall we?"_

Heracross flew directly upwards! His horn broke in half a thick tree branch as he entered into the air above the forest!

"_No!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled as he swung through the forest. _"Now we can't catch him!"_

"Just swing your vines upward!" Shane cried.

"_Okay then!" _he replied. _"But hold on!"_

Instead of reaching his Vine Whip for another branch Bulbasaurtwo swung his vines in reverse! The backwards swinging caused him to crash through the light canopy of Viridian Forest! Shane came out with only minor cuts after piercing the forest!

As Bulbasaurtwo stabilized himself he could see the sun again, starting to set in the east as day began to die.

But most of all he could see the king of the forest, hovering in midair Heracross's clear wings. His arms were crossed and he was giving Bulbasaurtwo a cocky smile.

"_Are you ready to die, you manifestation of human greed?"_

"Do to him just what you did to Gliscor," Shane said.

"Saur!"

Bulbasaurtwo willed his Vine Whip to launch himself at Heracross! He looked surprised to see this!

As he flew at him in midair he raised his Vine Whip, sent them to wrap around Heracross's steel-hard exoskeleton, and spun his body in the air!

Heracross cart wheeled around Bulbasaurtwo as he spun him!

"_I think I'm going to be sick!" _it said.

After the third 360 degrees spin Bulbasaurtwo flung Heracross to the ground! The very force uprooted two trees! After he descended back to the ground he looked to see Shane looked very dizzy.

"_Are you okay?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Bleh!"

Shane vomited four times before standing up straight.

"Oh man," he said. "Don't ever do that again when I'm with you."

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo turned to see Heracross was standing back up after the hit.

"_Do you think this is over?" _it asked. _"Bug-types are naturally resistant to Grass-type attacks!"_

"_Does that mean you want to go again?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Heracross lowered its head, showing its prominent horn.

It flew at Bulbasaurtwo!

"That's a Horn Attack!" Shane said.

"_Thank you," _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"Knowing its name really helps."_

Bulbasaurtwo jumped backwards as his horn sailed right in front of him! Heracross kept jabbing at him with his horn but every time Bulbasaurtwo ducked and dodged!

"Now use a close-range Tackle!" Shane ordered.

"Bulbasaur!"

He rammed into Heracross but just in time for him to unveil his gossamer wings from his back and fly off!

Then it came back down to dive-bomb!

"_Take this creature's Fury Cutter!" _

When it came down upon Bulbasaurtwo it slashed it with its left!

"Saur!" he cried.

The force of it flung him twenty feet into the air! Bulbasaurtwo was driven through a tree's trunk and thrown into water!

His bulb pierced the bottom of the stream as his legs in front of him went limp. Bulbasaurtwo got out from underwater on all fours to see that the clear stream had been contaminated by his blood. He was bleeding badly from a one foot cut along his back.

When Heracross landed fifteen feet in front of where he stood in the water it smiled.

"_This creature's strength is impressive, no?" _it asked.

It was hard to concentrate while he was losing so much blood.

"_Not to worry," _it said. _"As often by the predator your demise will be swift and unmerciful."_

"_One thing you should no about me," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"No matter what the odds are I never plan on giving up. And that's why I'll be the strongest Pokemon in the world one day."_

"_You know, I would expect a clone to feel lost in this world," _it said. _"I would expect you not to know which direction or path to take in life, confused about even the simplest things as eating. Such is with those who don't belong in the world."_

His smile became even more wicked.

"_But you seem so determined," _it continued. _"So ready for the next challenge. So brave in the face of death."_

Bulbasaurtwo began to smile.

"_Is that a compliment?" _he asked.

Then his smile vanished and was replaced by a gruesome look of ferocious disappointment.

"_Of course__ not," _he said. _"You should be confused as to what your purpose and destiny are. It is the only atonement for your crime of ever being brought into this world!"_

He flew at Bulbasaurtwo with another Fury Cutter!

Bulbasaurtwo grew his Vine Whip just as Heracross was four feet away and intercepted the Fury Cutter!

Heracross kept slashing at him while Bulbasaurtwo intercepted with his vines! They kept it up like this for a long time, each reverberation of force hitting the forest and knocking branches off of trees and throwing leaves into the sky!

Bulbasaurtwo saw out of the corner of his eye a Caterpie right underneath a tree that was ten feet wide that was broken in half because of the force they had been putting out.

Bulbasaurtwo quickly Vine Whipped Heracross upside the head! He was flung backwards into a tree!

Bulbasaurtwo ran at the Caterpie and softly pushed it out of the way of the massive tree! Bulbasaurtwo got hit by the massive trunk on the tip of his bulb but it hardly hurt him at all. He easily shoved the tree off his back.

"Caterpie! Caterpie!"

_Thank-you kind stranger!_

It crawled away as fast as possible from the battle scene after nudging him kindly.

Bulbasaurtwo turned around to see that Heracross was struggling to get up after the blow he was sent.

"_You say you want to protect this forest!" _Bulbasaurtwo yelled at it. _"You're the one who doesn't seem to care at all about the lives of innocent Pokemon! Just look what you did to this beautiful forest!"_

Every tree around them had been broken in half or lost branches because of the fight. He didn't seem to care.

"_Oh look," _it said. _"You seem to have a soft spot for Bugs! I rule over them and decipher those I allow to enter!"_

"_You're no protector of these woods!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"You're a maniac!"_

"_I am a protector of the natural order!" _it said.

"_Well you want to know something?!" _Bulbasaurtwo asked. _"I may like fighting but one reason I have so much spirit is who I'm fighting for! I'm fighting for a cloned friend of mine, Mewtwo, so that I can bring him home after he was abducted!"_

"_Then let's see how much power that really gives you," _it said.

He flew at Bulbasaurtwo at full speed, his horn readied to jab into him.

Bulbasaurtwo was getting ready to dodge the attack when he heard another option.

"Use Tackle!" Shane said.

Just as Heracross was right above him Bulbasaurtwo rammed into his chest!

"Bulbasaur!"

Heracross was Tackled by him and driven back into a cliff covered with the viridian moss!

Bulbasaurtwo looked back to see that Shane was leaning against a tree, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"I am so freaking tired," Shane said. "I had to run all the way here after he Heracross slapped you just for you to use that simple move. But hey, what are friends for?"

Bulbasaurtwo smiled back at him.

Heracross got back up and may have been badly beaten but was ready to attack again!

Bulbasaurtwo's continual loss of blood made him feel a bit dizzy. He was forced to withdraw his Vine Whip back into his bulb because he had used so much energy on them. His heart may still have been ready for some more Pokemon battling but his body just couldn't take much more of this.

"_Shane," _he said. _"I'm tired too. I guess its time for Leech Seed!"_

"Not exactly," Shane said. "You may wear Heracross down but by just looking at how strong he is it'll be gradual, just like your energy restoration will be. No Leech Seed."

"_Then what?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"You've got to use an all out draining attack," Shane said. "I know that you're low on power but you've got to grow a really strong seed attack and then launch it at Heracross. All the draining that must be done has to be done instantly or he'll defeat you."

Bulbasaurtwo focused. Inside his bulb was a seed that he would use for Leech Seed but he gave it more nutrients than he usually would. He focused on the power within his plant bulb and transferred it to that seed.

"_Time to die!" _it cried. _"Fury Cutter!"_

Heracross flew at Bulbasaurtwo, its right arm bent and ready to slice into it again! Bulbasaurtwo used all the time he had to give power to the seed!

Just as Heracross was two seconds from cutting him Bulbasaurtwo fired the seed from his bulb! It was just as the original ovular shape but with a bright lime green color!

The seed hit Heracross square in the chest! It went into his exoskeleton!

Suddenly from Heracross chest sprung open a long, woody stem with two foot long magnolia-like leaves growing from all around it! The plant glowed a luminescent green as it transferred Heracross's energy to Bulbasaurtwo! Bulbasaurtwo felt the return of all his stamina and power! Even his bleeding scar sealed back up like it was never there to begin with!

Heracross seemed stand there for a second as its energy was being drained away when his eyes glowed bluer than ever before!

"_This isn't over," _it said.

Then Heracross's eyes returned back to their normal yellow and black and he fell down with the plant protruding out of his chest. Unlike the Leech Seed this plant seemed to slip off of Heracross's body and into the ground beside it, planting its roots beneath the moss and soil of the forest floor!

"Go Pokeball!" Shane cried.

Bulbasaurtwo saw him throw a Pokeball from his bag at Heracross! The Pokeball brought the Bug and Fighting-type in with it.

The Pokeball rocked back and forth to the side before stopping.

"We caught our first Pokemon!" Shane cried.

"Saur!" he replied.

Shane walked over to the Pokeball and opened it. A fainted Heracross laid on the ground, motionless. Shane took out a Super Potion and sprayed every inch of his body. After a minute the hole that the plant had left in him healed up and Heracross was opening its eyes. Bulbasaurtwo and Shane got very close to him.

"Hey Heracross," Shane said. "You're our new friend. You won't have to stay here anymore if you don't want to."

Heracross smiled.

"_Friends," _it said in telepathy. _"Just what I've always wanted."_

"_You can still use telepathy?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Heracross nodded. He then stared at Shane.

"_Thank you for healing me," _he said. _"I did not want to fight you. I do not like fighting at all."_

"We know," Shane said as he hugged his new Pokemon.

"_May I stay outside of my Pokeball?" _Heracross asked. _"I promise not to leave you."_

Shane nodded.

"My name is Shane," he said.

"_I'm Bulbasaurtwo!" _he said. _"Do you mind showing us the way to the center of Viridian Forest so we can find our way back and kick the butt of that no good king of the woods?"_

Heracross nodded and gestured for them to follow.


	46. The Secret of Viridian Forest

**Chapter 46: The Secret of Viridian Forest**

Shane, Bulbasaurtwo, and Heracross walked through the forest with Shane's new Pokemon leading the way to their destination. All the while, Heracross was ecstatic at meeting them.

"_You guys seem so nice," _he said in telepathy._ "I mean, Bulbasaurtwo I saw how you helped that Caterpie and Shane…you decided to heal me rather than defeat me. Not only that but I have two awesome friends now. Not only that but you're really strong Bulbasaurtwo and you seem like a great trainer, Shane."_

Shane smiled.

"Well I just thought it would be better for me to help you since you chose not to fight," Shane said. "Everybody else in these woods didn't really care otherwise."

"_Yeah," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"You're cool too. But I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that being a clone was cool. I'm a copy."_

"_I just think that makes you all the more special really," _Heracross said. _"I wish I was like that. You know, special. For two of the four years I've been alone. My group kicked me out when I refused to fight for my place in it. I've spent the rest of my life looking for tree sap and pollen, and company, the other two years. I'm glad I get to have friends as cool as you guys now."_

Shane looked down at the ground.

"Yeah, I know how it feels to be alone," Shane said. "My parents died when I was only a baby so I know how it feels to feel like you only have yourself."

"_But you got me now!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane kind of smirked.

"Yeah," Shane said. "Hey Heracross, how much longer until we get there?"

Heracross stopped.

"_We are here," _he said.

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo turned forward to see in front of them made their jaws drop. Ten feet away there were no trees that grew in a perfectly circular area. In the middle stood a stone pyramid.

It was fifty feet high and wide, with a carved staircase leading to the flat top on all sides, and strangest of all was it appeared to be the source of all the viridian moss. It may have been how the moss grew on it but the moss seemed to grow directly from the top of the pyramid down the surface of it and to the forest floor.

"_I wish not to accompany you in this," _Heracross said.

Shane nodded in understanding.

He took Heracross's Pokeball out and returned him to it. Then he placed it by the adhesive button on his waist.

Shane looked up at the top of the pyramid and started climbing up the staircase with Bulbasaurtwo climbing right beside him. Shane began to become aware that the higher he went up the darker and more shadowy where he stepped.

Shane noticed tablets built on the sides of the staircase.

They were complete with ancient texts in a language that he could not read and carved images. The images were mostly of humans building and erecting this temple. In several images was the same figure of some floating figure being looked up to by the people over and over again. As he observed the pictures apparently the floating being was the reason these people built this pyramid.

Every step was carpeted with bluish green moss, softening every step Shane and Bulbasaurtwo took so that they made not a sound.

After they reached the top of the pyramid there were no more tablets to look at.

Suddenly they were at the top and they saw it. It was in the center.

From the center of the top of was a thin tree, at least one hundred feet tall growing through the pyramid, with smooth black bark and leaves that were viridian in color and did not change into the bright yellowish-green. It had no limbs except at the very top spread out to form a canopy over them that engulfed them in shadow.

The only light came from the moss that grew from the base of the where the tree rose from the stone of the pyramid, being the obvious source of the viridian moss. The glow was beating light pulsing from the source in all directions around it, the pulse of light vanishing after it reached the edges of the pyramid. It was like the heartbeat of the forest.

On instinct Shane walked towards the tree. Bulbasaurtwo followed him. The closer he got the better he could here the heartbeat of Viridian Forest, mystical pumping sound that grew louder with each and every step. Both Shane and his Pokemon stopped dead in their tracks as soon as they heard the voice.

"_You intruders dare step on my temple," _it said.

Suddenly the tree's wood glowed blue. From the glow of the tree appeared a Pokemon that hovered in the air.

_It looks just like the one in the pictures. _Shane thought.

It hovered in the air. Shane was surprised to see that it looked very non-threatening with a body that resembled a green vegetable. The wings on its back were clear, giving it a fairy-like appearance and its head ended in a pointed curve. It big blue eyes and slim arms and toeless feet.

Shane had the sudden desire to call it cute.

But when he looked into those eyes he saw that the fairy-like Pokemon glared at them. It disturbed Shane that something that cute could be so hateful.

Shane brought out his Pokedex, pointed the glass eyepiece at the Pokemon and pressed a button:

"Celebi the Time Travel Pokemon. It travels through distant pasts and futures, seeking out lush green forests. It protects the woodlands it finds and makes them grow and become lush green. When it disappears into the forest Celebi is said to bring an egg from the future deep within the woods."

Shane closed his Pokedex and then put it back in his bag.

"_No more chances," _Celebi said. _"I shall defend my forest."_

"Go! Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane said.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

Bulbasaurtwo focused his psychic power and channeled his mind to Shane. Soon, he could feel his own mind begin to synchronize with his trainer's. There minds became one as they had many times before.

Bulbasaurtwo ran and faced Celebi as it floated in the air. It glared down at him with his blue eyes and he glared back up with his red eyes.

"_Wait for it to make the first move!" _Shane said in telepathy.

Celebi raised its arms.

"Bee," it cried solemnly.

Its eyes were engulfed with a blue light and its body glowed with a blue aura for a moment. Then the light vanished from appearance. For a moment Celebi just stared there and glared at Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Did it just do something?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Bee!" it cried.

"_Grass Knot!" _it cried in telepathy.

It raised its arms and a dozen strands of moss grew twenty feet tall in the air! The light beating along the moss through the tall moss strands.

"Bee!" Celebi cried.

It brought its arms down and the vines came down with it!

"_Use Vine Whip!" _Shane cried.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

From underneath his bulb grew his slim Vine Whip, and having grown stronger from his combined battles with Beedrill, Butterfree, and Heracross, they had been covered with another, thicker and stronger layer of pale green.

Bulbasaurtwo slammed his Vine Whip into Celebi's Grass Knot! Bulbasaurtwo held back the moss strands from going any further, his strength versus Celebi!

"_Is that all you've got?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked as his attack struggled against Celebi's. _"Come on I thought the so-called 'king of the forest' would at least be able to put up a better fight than this!"_

Celebi leered down at him.

Celebi sent all twelve moss plants to strike attack!

"Bulba! Bulba!"

Bulbasaurtwo whipped his vine at Celebi! He viciously fought back as the vines fought vines, fighting each other for power! As he did he could feel Shane's determination and spirit, combined with his, driving him and unleashing more power to put into his vines.

"_Strike the Grass Knot at the base!" _Shane yelled.

"Saur!"

He Vine Whipped the Grass Knot where it grew from moss!

They were sliced away with the speed of vines! They fell to the ground as lifeless plants!

"Bee!" it cried.

Bulbasaurtwo saw Celebi use telekinesis to drag twelve berries growing from the branches above down. Celebi caught it in its hands.

"_What do you think that is?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"_No idea," _Shane said.

In Celebi's hands the berry glowed. As it did glowed it seemed to go from a solid to a luminescent liquid. Then Celebi thrust its arms forward!

From the glowing berry a gust of wind blew straight forward!

"_That thing will carry you away!" _Shane cried. _"Dodge it!"_

Bulbasaurtwo jumped out of the way of the gust of wind, wondering how in the world Celebi did that with a berry.

When Bulbasaurtwo landed he stared in shock to see Celebi was pulling more green berries from the tree!

"_Oh know that's not good," _Shane said. _"You won't be able to block that with your Vine Whip. You will just have to sense it telepathically to avoid it!"_

"_Right!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Bulbasaurtwo closed his eyes, focused his psychic power, and sensed the environment around him. He could feel the life in the forest, the life of his friend Shane, Heracross in his Pokeball, and Celebi. The next minute he felt a huge force of energy coming his way.

"Saur!"

He dodged to the right and the gust of wind blew where he had stood!

Another one came!

Bulbasaurtwo dodged to the left!

Celebi blew more and more blasts of forceful air that shot at him in rapid succession but he jumped to the side faster than the Time Travel Pokemon could use them!

By the time it was over Bulbasaurtwo opened his eyes to see Celebi was all out of berries to hit him with.

"Saur!" he cried.

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo turned to the right, feeling a large portion of psychic energy headed his way. Before he could do anything he saw a bolt of purple hit him.

"Saaaaauuuuur!" he yelled.

The pain was so intense! It seemed to be scrambling his mind around and hurt everything from his body to his bulb! For a minute everything he saw or sensed was a great big blur!

After he came to his senses Bulbasaurtwo had felt like he had almost no energy left in him. He fell flat on his stomach, the pain to great to cause him to get up. He laid there, unable to do anything.

"Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane cried.

He ran up to his Pokemon and held it.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"_Hah!" _Celebi laughed in telepathy. _"You may be stronger than any Pokemon I have ever faced but you were still vulnerable to my Future Sight attack! You may be a super clone but because you are a Poison-type, weak to my Psychic-type attacks!"_

Celebi began to use telekinesis to draw more berries from the tree above it.

"You've got to get up," Shane said.

"_I can't," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"That attack…it was too painful-"_

"I know you can still fight back," Shane said. "You've just got to try. I want you to drain it, just like you did Heracross when Celebi had control over him."

"Saur," he growled.

"_Okay," _he replied.

Bulbasaurtwo focused on one of the seeds inside his bulb. He focused, giving it more energy than an ordinary Leech Seed attack. Bulbasaurtwo channeled energy into and suddenly the markings on his body began to glow a luminescent green. He stood up as if the pain were nothing.

"Bulba…SAUR!"

He launched the seed from his flower bulb!

It hit Celebi right in the chest!

"Bee!" it cried.

The seed dug into Celebi's body and grew into a thick woody stem with six feet long palm leaves! As Celebi began being drained of its energy Bulbasaurtwo began feeling more energized! In a few seconds he was right back to full health!

After a moment growing on Celebi's body the plant fell off its body, to the ground. Celebi fell to the ground as well.

"Now go and use Tackle!" Shane cried.

"Bulbasaur!"

He ran full steam at Celebi as it was falling down! He rammed into it and it was flung into the tree and it hit the ground! It lay still on the ground!

"We did it!" Shane said.

"Saur," Bulbasaurtwo replied.

He could feel the power of his new battle experience course through him, already setting in and making him stronger. From his new strength Bulbasaurtwo could feel a some new power awaken within him. It involved his psychic power. He focused on this new power.

Suddenly Bulbasaurtwo appeared right beside the tree Celebi had come out of. He turned around to see that he was twenty feet away from where used to be standing with Shane.

"Um…Bulbasaurtwo," Shane said. "What was that?"

"_New move I guess," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"That must be the move Teleport," Shane said.

"_I could get used to that," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane looked up at the sky to see that the sun was setting.

"Oh my gosh!" he said. "It's nearly nighttime! We'll never be able to navigate through the forest at night! Do you think you could Teleport us out of here and just outside Pewter City?"

"Saur," he said as he shook his head.

"_I'm pretty sure I can only go to places that I can picture in my head," _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"But I do think I know how we can get out of here pretty quickly."_

"How?" Shane asked.

Bulbasaurtwo told him quickly.

Shane enlarged a Pokeball on his waist. He opened it up and Heracross came out.

"_What happened to the jerk of the forest?" _Heracross asked.

"Oh don't worry we took care of him," Shane said. "Heracross do you think you could fly us on your back out of these woods?"

"Hera!" he cried and nodded.

Heracross turned around, opened the back of its exoskeleton, and revealed its gossamer wings.

Shane climbed onto Heracross's back while Bulbasaurtwo jumped onto his shoulder.

Heracross took off into the air as fast as he could! His gossamer wings were beating so fast they were only silver blurs! They were about fifty feet above the forest so Shane could see all Viridian Forest!

"This is so cool!" Shane said.

"_I know!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

And so dusk turned to night and they could see the stars as they rode Heracross through the sky. Bulbasaurtwo had gone to sleep where he laid in front of Shane. Shane watched as he saw a flock of Pidgey fly right past them.

Shane fell in love with flying on top of Heracross, loving every second of it. There seemed to be no problems in his life that could not now be solved by flying on his Bug-type Pokemon.

Then the forest below stopped and opened up into a plain. Not far from the plain was a city.

"Bulbasaurtwo!" Shane exclaimed. "Wake up!"

His eyes opened.

"Heracross we made it!" Shane said. "We made it to Pewter City! You are so awesome!"

"_Why thank you," _Heracross replied. _"I'll land right outside the city."_

"That would be really cool of you," Shane said.

Heracross dove to the earth below but slow so that neither Shane or Bulbasaurtwo would fall off. Shane was so excited. The place of his first gym battle would take place just outside of where they were about to go to sleep. He could hardly contain himself.

Heracross landed on the plain. He yawned loudly and fell asleep on his stomach.

"_Goodnight," _he said.

Bulbasaurtwo seemed to drift back to sleep on the ground. Shane laid on his back, trying to ignore the excitement he was feeling.

"Okay guys," he said. "Get some sleep. Because tomorrow we're going to rock the Pewter gym."


	47. Not So Ice To Meet You

**Chapter 47: Not So Ice To Meet You To**

**Secret of the Big Jaw Pokemon**

**I'd like some more reviews from my readers. You know, to know your thoughts about my chapters.**

Charlie and Melody were sitting in together in the jeep's seat, both curled up side-by-side in a blanket, trying to warm themselves in spite of the intense cold. Charlie had returned Larvitar to his Pokeball, due to being part Ground-type and especially hating the weather. The car's heat was turned off so as to conserve fuel. Charmandertwo was sitting beside Charlie, the intense heat of his flame warming the room. Outside all they could see was snow and the darkness of the blizzard.

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Charlie," Melody said. "Why d-d-d-d-d-did we have to drive here to the mountain top?"

Charlie held her tighter to keep her warm.

"This was the only way to Pewter City," Charlie said. "I just need to use the map on my Pokedex to figure out a way off this f-f-f-freezing mountain p-p-p-p-peak."

"_Hey!" _Charmandertwo cried in telepathy. _"I see a cave outside! Maybe we could take shelter in it!"_

"It beats freezing in here," Melody said. "Let's go Charlie!"

Charlie sighed, the CO2 he breathed becoming a thick mist. He got his backpack on and opened the jeep door.

Charlie hurriedly got out of the car, the cold just that much more unbearable than ever before. Snow and wind blew in his face in the blizzard. Melody hung on to him and the blanket for warmth. Charlie could feel her body shaking in the cold like a maraca against his.

"I hope we make it out okay," Melody said. "I was raised in tropical weather. I think I really am going to die."

"_This way!" _Charmandertwo said.

He pointed just to the right of them. Charlie could in fact see a dark cave in the mountainside. When they walked in it all they could see was what Charmandertwo's tail lit up. It was significantly warmer but still very chilly. The stone was covered with markings as if they had been scratched on periodically.

"Thank you Charmandertwo," Melody said. "But I'm still cold."

"We should make a campfire," Charlie said. "We can use it stay warm until the blizzard dies down."

"_Do we have any combustible material that none of us mind burning?" _Charmandertwo asked.

Charlie shrugged and looked at the ground.

"Nothing that's worth just throwing in a fire…let me look," Charlie said.

Charlie put his bag on the cave floor and zipped his bag open. He examined it, looking through every medicinal item, sandwich, canteen, map and…educational textbooks?

"Why are there a history, science, dictionary, and math book in here?" Charlie asked.

"_I may have packed it while you weren't looking," _Charmandertwo replied. _"I said I wanted to learn about human society, so I took the liberty of packing some educational reading."_

Charlie sighed. No wonder he thought his bag was heavier than he intended it to be. Then he rummaged through his bag and found the parcel that had contained the Time Ball.

Charlie took the box and showed it to Charmandertwo.

"We could use _this_," Charlie said.

Charmandertwo looked like he would die from panic!

"_What remains in that parcel Oak said was extremely important to Pokemon research!" _Charmandertwo said.

"I think he was talking about the Time Ball," Charlie said.

"_But can you not feel the weight?!" _Charmandertwo yelled. _"There's more! And what more remains in that could be immensely beneficial to Pokemon understanding and scientific revelation! We can't just burn it like firewood!"_

"I'd rather burn the revolution to scientific understanding than die of hypothermia," Charlie said.

"_You are totally insensitive to all and any attempts to better contemplate and discover unknown fathoms of the universe!" _the Fire-type clone said while accusingly pointed his finger up at his trainer.

"I think you use _way _to many big words," Charlie said. "And no I do not believe some crappy research journal is more important than my life!"

"_Hand that parcel of powerful information over or I may not burn anything for a campfire at all!" _Charmandertwo yelled.

"Oh give me those!" Melody said.

She swiped the parcel from Charlie's hands! Melody held it up like a baseball bat, nearly ready to hit somebody!

"Seriously!" Melody said. "About to die. IN A CAVE. Over the stuff IN A BOX."

Melody turned the box over and spilled its contents.

"_No!" _Charmandertwo said. _"Earth shatteringly important pages!"_

But when the contents of the box spilled out Charlie jaw dropped.

They were a bunch of magazines of with dirty images of women on the covers and pages. One cover with a perverted image of a woman was labeled in the right corner read To: Gary Oak. They spilled in a gigantic pile on the cave floor.

Charlie was totally perplexed.

"What in the world?" Charlie asked.

"This is _so_ degrading of women," Melody said. "I'd like to meet this Gary Oak and punch him right in the face!"

"_But…" _Charmandertwo asked with tears in his eyes. _"I thought this was groundbreaking research…"_

"_Now _do want to make a campfire?" Melody asked.

He nodded.

Charmandertwo spat a tiny ball of fire into the pile of disgusting magazines. They caught a blaze quickly and made a fire.

Charlie got out one sandwich for each of them. As they ate Melody curled up into the blanket with Charlie again, holding him by the midsection with her long arms. Charlie felt kind of nervous as she did. A girl had never held him that way before, not really noticed him, and certainly no one as pretty as Melody.

"_So," _Charmandertwo said as he ate his sandwich. _"Oak said that the research journals to be taken were of dire importance. But seeing the rest of the contents the only thing that was apparently important in the parcel was the Time Ball. Which means Oak was probably lying about it so we would go get it."_

"Right," Charlie said as Melody snuggled against him.

"_And the label on them clearly showed that they were to a Gary Oak," _he explained further. _"Obviously a relative. If the Time Ball was what Oak had been speaking of then wouldn't it have been better to label the Pokeball as his? Isn't it strange that was the only thing labeled?"_

"I guess," Charlie said.

"_That means that Oak may not have known about the Time Ball," _Charmandertwo said. _"Knowing that he was lying about the contents leads me to believe that Oak was referring to the magazines. Do you think that means that Oak didn't know about the Time Ball?"_

At first Charlie thought Charmandertwo was over thinking it, as he does being as intelligent as he was. But when he thought about it began to make sense. If Professor Oak just wanted the magazines for whomever then that meant he may have been oblivious to the existence of the Time Ball. And if he wasn't notified then…

"Do you think _we_ were supposed to get the Time Ball?" Charlie asked.

That made Charmandertwo put his hand to his chin.

"_If whoever sent it knew that Oak would fetch us to get it then maybe so," _the Pokemon clone replied. _"But that sounds like a long shot to me. However, if hypothetically that was the case, and they knew that I was super clone and you were my trainer and that Amber and the rest of us escaped, then that means we are in more danger than ever before."_

"What if its Team Rocket?" Charlie asked. "Then we have no new enemies."

"_But Team Rocket was obviously the one who tipped off the police," _Charmandertwo said. _"If they originally had it then they wouldn't go through all that trouble just to get it back. Not unless somebody stole it from them."_

Charlie sighed again.

"No probably not," Charlie replied.

Charlie shrugged again, finished his food, and leaned against the cave wall. He watched the snow outside fall in the blizzard, wondering when it would calm.

"What's wrong?" Melody asked.

"Nothing," Charlie replied. "Just complications. As if I don't have enough of them already."

"That can be frustrating," Melody said. "You know…when I saw you as a little kid at first I thought that you were just some really angry kid who hated life. But when I saw you just yesterday…you were different. Sure of yourself, confident in what you could do, caring…and handsome."

Charlie blushed.

"You know," Melody said. "After being held captive in a prison for some time, maybe being stranded with someone like you in a cave during a snowstorm is not such a bad thing."

Charlie knew all to well what was about to happen next. Charmandertwo also probably knew because he was staring at them.

Melody's face slowly drew close to Charlie's. Her mouth was open and it was obvious that she was trying to put her lips against. At first he did not know what to do but the next second his mouth was parting and he was ready to push lips against her's.

_You know. _He thought. _Maybe it isn't so bad._

"WEAVILE! WEAVILE! WEAVILE!" a shrill roar sounded.

Charlie whirled around. Melody stared at the source of the cry to.

Standing there was a group of sixteen Pokemon. Eleven of them were blackish-blue with a large red ear protruding out of their heads, although some were longer than others. Their tail was composed of three red, feather-like growths. They had yellow gems in their head and chest. Each of them had white claws on their feet and hands.

The other five were obviously their evolved forms. They had gray skin instead dark blue. It was taller with a red headdress that curved around their scalp, larger white claws, large red ears, a larger yellow gem on their forehead, and only two feather-like growths as their tail. The evolved forms looked even more evil than the smaller ones.

"_What are those?" _Charmandertwo asked.

Charlie took out his Pokedex and pointed the glass eyepiece at the shorter Pokemon:

"Sneasal the Sharp Claw Pokemon. It has contractible claws and uses them to make opponents slice into vulnerable spots on prey. It eats eggs of unguarded nests and uses cunning strategy to hunt for prey in groups."

Charlie pointed the glass eyepiece at its evolved form:

"Weavile the Sharp Claw Pokemon. After its evolution from Sneasal. it became more cunning and evil. It communicates by drawing with its claws on hard objects and in cold regions work in groups of five to take down prey."

Charlie saw that both of kinds of Pokemon were Ice and Dark-type. That meant Charmandertwo could super-effect them. But from the data not only were they smart but extremely vicious. Charlie could tell from the lack of blood that they had not caught anything to eat. Just in time for two weak humans to show up to make a meal of IN THERE OWN HOME.

He saw each Sneasal lick its chops as it sensed easy prey.

Charlie and Melody stood in horror at the sight of them.

"Char!"

Charmandertwo ran and stood in front of Charlie, ready to defend his trainer.

"Sneasal," they said with mock smiles.

Charlie pulled from his waist Larvitar's Pokeball and opened it. From the light that beamed from the Pokeball came Charlie's newest Pokemon.

"Larvitar!" he cried.

"_Hey guys," _Larvitar said in telepathy.

Larvitar turned his head to see the group of Sneasal and Weavile.

"_Sneasal!" _he asked in panic. _"How did they get here?!"_

"_We kind of walked into their home," _Charmandertwo replied.

Larvitar gave them both a look that said "you're a bunch of idiots".

"_You think Dodrio's bad?!" _he asked. _"At least they don't hunt in packs and at least they don't have _even more _Speed along with the fact that they don't sneak up on you! Sneasal are the worst predators on this mountain!" _

Suddenly a Sneasal's claws extended! All of them simultaneously flinched in fear when it happened!

"_See!" _Larvitar yelled._ "And you just _casually walked into their den_! No wonder you humans need Pokemon to keep yourselves alive." _

"Go Slowbro!" Melody said.

She flung a Pokeball and out came a Slowbro!

Charlie remembered the text he read about Slowbro from the book Blaine gave him:

_Slowbro the Hermit Crab Pokemon. Its pre-evolved state, Slowpoke, was fishing with its tail one day when it caught a Shellder. Shellder bit into a pressure point and caused Slowpoke's psychic powers to go haywire and caused both to evolve. With the extra power it can easily catch prey in the water and makes its nerves very dull so it is cannot feel pain. However, if the Shellder ever comes off then it devolves into Slowbro. The Shellder feeds off the Slowpoke's scraps._

"Slowbro!" it cried.

Charlie looked over at Melody.

"I didn't know you had a Pokemon," Charlie said.

"Kadabra's one of my best friends," Melody said. "The kidnappers prevented me from using him but he's always been my protector. Together we've actually really strong. Let's fight!"

"Charmandertwo use Ember! Larvitar use Rock Slide!" Charlie cried.

Charmandertwo channeled heat energy from his tail to his mouth!

Larvitar plucked a rock from the cave and it grew in his hands!

"Charmander!" he cried.

He launched a ball of fire from his mouth!

"Larvitar!"

Larvitar broke the pieces of rock and flung them!

"Sneasal! Weavile!"

As soon as the attacks neared them they became blurs that jumped up and quicker than they could blink eight Sneasal surrounded Charmandertwo and Larvitar!

"Sneasal!" they cried.

They rushed at them like blurs!

BAM!

Larvitar punched Sneasal in the face and drove into the opposite cave wall!

A Sneasal attacking from Charmandertwo's side got elbowed into the ceiling by him!

A Sneasal that had jumped Larvitar and was descending upon it, its claws out and ready to skin it alive, he caught in the air! Larvitar then flung Sneasal through the solid rock ceiling of the cave!

"Larvitar!" he cried.

The five remaining Sneasal looked vicious and ready to attack but slowly back up.

"Wow!" Charlie said. "That was a Superpower attack!"

"_I was just doing what you told me to do when I kept us from burning alive," _Larvitar replied.

"_Then that must be when you learned it!" _Charmandertwo said.

"Slowbro!" he cried.

_You will do wise to step away from my friend._

He glared at the five Weavile and three Sneasal.

"Sneasal!"

_You will be my first meal of the day!_

It rushed at him with its claws extended!

"Use Withdraw!" Melody said.

Slowbro withdrew all his tail into the spiral Shellder and whirled around so that Sneasal's claws only scraped against its shell!

"Now use Water Gun!" Melody ordered.

Slowbro whirled around, only inches away from Sneasal in midair and launched a blast of water from his mouth!

It drove Sneasal all the way out of the cave!

Every other Sneasal and Weavile attacked Slowbro with another Slash attack!

"Use Dive!" Melody cried.

"Slowbro." he communicated.

_Now you see me. _He said.

Water poured from the pours on his body and totally surrounded him! The current of the water moved him away from the attack of the enemy Pokemon!

"Slowbro," he said.

_Now you don't. _He communicated.

When they landed with no target Slowbro appeared behind them, came up, and tackled them with a head-on aquatic charge!

"Slowbro!" he cried.

_Now I drown you! _

The five Weavile were fast enough to get away but the Sneasal were just a little too slow and both were consumed in the water swirling around Slowbro's body! The water exploded and both of them were flung into the opposite walls with an explosion of water!

He then got back in front of Melody.

The Weavile all glared at him! All five of them put their hands together and from their palms fired a Blizzard!

"Now use Light Screen!" Melody cried.

Slowbro put his hands up and a wall of light that looked like glass appeared in front of him! The wall deflected the wind of snow and ice!

"Great Slowbro!" Melody applauded.

"Bro."

"Charmander!"

He launched an Ember attack that plowed right through Sneasal's Blizzard! It hit Sneasal, melting part of its body!

"Sneasal!" it cried in pain before falling down.

"Sneasal!"

"Sneasal!"

Their bodies skin color seemed to be turning blacker as they used Faint Attack! They rushed at them at an almost invisible pace!

"_I got this one!" _Larvitar said.

Larvitar dug his right arm into the cave floor as if it were only cake and flung a boulder up! It grew in his hands to be over fifteen feet wide, starting to become unwieldy, before he flung it into the air, punched it into pieces! The Rock Slide buried the Sneasal using Faint Attack before they could get near them!

"Alright!" Charlie said.

Suddenly two more Sneasal appeared behind Charlie! Charmandertwo thought he was about to use Outrage with as much anger as it caused him!

"Char!"

He fired an Ember!

It caught one Sneasal by surprise and it burst into flames!

"Larvitar!"

"_Take this!" _he cried.

Larvitar picked up another stone from the cave's floor, made it grow, broke it, and the dozens of boulders he threw at Sneasal!

"Sneasal!" it cried in pain as it was driven back by the rocks.

Charlie sighed and smiled.

"That was a close one," he said. "Thanks."

Larvitar picked up another rock and then started munching on it.

"_It's what we do," _he said.

Charmandertwo looked back to Melody to see that two Weavile had used Faint Attack!

They had materialized behind Slowbro's Light Screen with Faint Attack! Then the darkness of their bodies rushed into their claws and then slashed Slowbro!

"Bro!" he cried in pain.

Where he had been slashed was a mark of pure darkness! He fell to the ground, unable to battle.

All five gathered around Weavile, licking their mouth in anticipation for their next meal.

"Return!" Melody said.

She pulled Slowbro's Pokeball out and returned him to the Pokeball. Then the Weavile gathered around Melody, angry and hungry at the same time.

"Vile," one said.

_Easy prey. _It communicated.

Charmandertwo flew at Weavile and rammed his fist into its mouth!

"_Taste pure rage!" _he cried.

Weavile hit the floor of the cave.

The four others gathered around Charmandertwo about to kill him.

But he didn't care.

His stripes were glowing purple from Dragon-type energy with steaming being emitted from his body. His flame-like purple aura was causing the stone floor beneath his feet to blacken and emit smoke. His eyes were full of murderous rage. Rage was the only thought or feeling within him right then.

"_WHAT?!" _Charmandertwo asked. _"If any of you want a piece of me now's your chance!"_

"Larvitar!" he cried.

Larvitar ran and drove his arms into the guts of two Weavile! At first the Weavile were thrown to the ground and struggled to get up but then Larvitar picked them up by their necks and threw them into the ground!

The Weavile made craters upon where they landed.

"Thank you," Melody said.

The other Weavile were staring at them with masks of panicked horror! They looked absolutely frightened of these Pokemon they had once thought would be easy kills!

"Larvitar use Superpower! Charmandertwo use Outrage!" Charlie ordered.

"Charmander!"

"Larvitar!"

They charged the Weavile and both punched one of them in directly in the gut! They were both driven to the cave wall!

BOOM!

The good news was those Weavile were done for. The bad news was the combined force of Superpower and Outrage against the rock wall unleashed a huge amount of force.

The very vibration caused Charlie and Melody to fall to the ground!

"Ouch!" Charlie said.

"Aw!" Melody screamed.

It also shattered part of the cave wall, revealing that the force had also made the snow from the mountain slope one hundred feet above them was now falling!

"You just set off an avalanche!" Melody cried.

"Larvitar!" he cried in panic.

"_What are we going to do?!"_

"Char," he said calmly.

"_Big whoop," _he said, still in the Outrage mode.

"Return!" Charlie said.

Charlie grabbed the Pokeballs from the side of his waist! He pressed the button in the middle and a beam shot out! It caught Charmandertwo and Larvitar and they were brought back into their Pokeballs! Charmandertwo's anger vanished once he was inside.

Charlie put his Pokemon's Pokeballs back onto his waist! Then he ran over and helped Melody up.

"We have to go!" Charlie yelled.

She nodded.

They ran to the jeep and shut the doors once they were in.

"What do we do?" Melody asked.

Charlie pulled her close to him and squeezed her in his arms.

"We hold on for dear life," he said.

Melody buried her face in his chest.

Then the avalanche hit the jeep and they fell of the mountain! All Charlie could see out the windows as they were tumbling was snow! As the jeep rolled in midair Charlie and Melody were hit over and over against the roof and windows of the jeep! Charlie was screaming in pain from the bruises as he tried his best to shield Melody from every hit with his own body!

"Melody!" he said. "Whatever happens I just want you to know that if I have to die I'm glad it will be with you."

Her reddish-brown her kept flinging in his face and getting in his eyes. Charlie could barely see anything now and only felt the pain of being hit by the jeep.

Then they crashed into something. Charlie's back crashed into the jeeps seat as it had landed on all four wheels. The landing was soft for what Charlie expected.

Charlie looked up to see the late afternoon sun was shining through the windows.

"Are we dead?" Melody asked.

"No," Charlie said.

Charlie opened the door and climbed out. He was surprised to see that the avalanche had thrown their jeep on top of a pile of snow in the middle of a river. Charlie looked behind him to see the river was feed by a waterfall one hundred feet wide.

"Where do you think we are Melody?" Charlie asked.

"You said you'd be happy to die with me," Melody said.

Charlie tried to ignore the fact he meant what he said and got his Pokedex out. He looked at the map on it. The map indicated that they were at the beginning of a river that fed a great landmark called "Tohjo Falls" that was the link between Kanto and Johto. The river they stood in ended in a town just in the Johto region called "New Bark Town".

Charlie closed his Pokedex and then put it back in his bag. Then he brought Charmandertwo and Larvitar out of their Pokeballs.

"_You made it!" _Larvitar said.

"Char," he said smiling.

"Then let's get out of here," Melody said.

She walked to the edge of the pile of snow to the water so she could cross. But just as she would have stepped into the river a blur of blue jumped at her leg!

"Ah!" Melody squealed.

She pulled her leg back and the blur of blue jumped back into the water.

"Char," he said frightened.

"_What was that thing?" _Charmandertwo asked.

He didn't need to ask.

The blue creature came out of the water and climbed onto the snow. It was only two feet tall and stood on two flat feet. It had small arms, a small tail, red eyes, a yellow arrow on its chest, and a very large jaw. All across its back it had red spikes. It seemed to smile at them.

"Toto!" it cried.

Charlie brought his Pokedex out and pointed the glass eyepiece at it:

"Totodile the Big Jaw Pokemon. Totodile's jaws are very powerful and likes to use them. It is often playful but can cause injury with them. Totodile are given away by a Professor Elm to new trainers at New Bark Town."

"Totodile!" it cried.

It suddenly attacked Larvitar!

"Larv!" he cried in pain.

Totodile had bit into his shoulder.

"I think it's just playing," Charlie said. "It doesn't appear to want to harm you."

Charmandertwo ran over and pulled Totodile off by the feet. It smiled up at him as if they had been playing a fun game.

"Toto!" it cried.

"_That's it!" _Larvitar said. _"I'm blowing that thing back where it came from!"_

"Larv!" he cried.

His body suddenly produced a Sandstorm attack aimed at Totodile!

"Totodile!" it cried.

From its body it shot a Water Gun that blasted right through Larvitar's Sandstorm! It hit Larvitar and flung him into the jeep!

"Larvitar!" Charmandertwo and Charlie cried.

Charlie returned the Rock Skin Pokemon to his Pokeball, knowing that being both Rock and Ground-type it had taken a lot of damage.

Charmandertwo turned to the Totodile and leered at it.

"Charmander!"

Charmandertwo's markings began glowing purple, steam coming off its body as if it was on fire, and his tail flame became more intense. He flew over punched Totodile right in its big jaw! Totodile was flung from where he stood on the pile of snow to the river. The knocked out Totodile began to float downstream.

"Charmandertwo!" Charlie yelled.

"_He attacked Larvitar!" _he replied. _"I had no choice!"_

"He was playing and then defended himself!" Charlie cried.

Charlie took a Pokeball from his waist and flung it at the Big Jaw Pokemon. It instantly captured it.

"_Hey!" _Charmandertwo replied.

Charlie returned Charmandertwo to his Pokeball.

"Melody get Slowbro out," Charlie said.

Melody nodded.

She brought the fainted Pokemon out. Charlie took a Super Potion and sprayed it across the Hermit Crab Pokemon's wounds. After that it got up.

"Slowbro," he said.

"I want you to use Slowbro's telekinesis to retrieve that Pokeball," Charlie said.

"Slowbro use Confusion to bring the Pokeball in the river to us," Melody said.

"Slowbro," he said.

He telekinetically lifted the Pokeball to Charlie's hands. Charlie brought Totodile out of its Pokeball and sprayed it with a Super Potion.

"Toto!" it cried and Charlie knew it was a male.

Charlie fed him two sandwiches and ate them in one bite. Then Charlie returned him to his Pokeball. Charlie brought Larvitar out, healed it with the Super Potion, and then brought it back into its Pokeball.

Melody returned Slowbro to his Pokeball and they both hopped into the jeep.

"I'll release Charmandertwo and Larvitar but I'll give them a while to cool down," Charlie said.

Melody nodded.

Charlie got his Pokedex out again, checked the map and drove towards Pewter City, while he Melody began kissing him.


	48. A Battle Proposition

**Chapter 48: A Battling Proposition**

**Who is your most/least favorite character/Pokemon in 2 and why? **

**Answer in review!**

"_I don't even know you anymore," _Charmandertwo said.

"Oh don't be a drama queen!" Charlie said. "You guys overreacted and nearly killed him! For someone as intelligent as you I would think by hearing the Pokedex entry on Tododile you would know it wasn't _trying _to harm you."

"_After being nearly eaten alive by a Dodrio and growing up on a mountain where everybody is insanely strong I really do NOT_ _like people biting me," _Larvitar said.

"_And if you think I'M_ _being a drama queen you should see Squirtletwo on an average day," _Charmandertwo said.

"After Totodile was caught it seemed pretty friendly," Melody said sweetly. "Don't you think you're being just a little bit harsh?"

"_NO!" _they replied.

Charmandertwo and Larvitar crossed their arms and gave Charlie a very dissatisfied look.

Charlie sighed.

"I feel like I'm babysitting six-year-olds," Charlie said.

He kept looking back at the Pokedex where the map was shown. It showed that they were on the outskirts of Viridian Forest. It was about seven o'clock and the sun's light dimming wasn't helping. It was getting dark quickly.

Charlie hated the fact they were acting this way but he understood their frustration. He had acted on compassion, an emotion. Compassion was a good emotion that was helpful but it often blocked critical thinking. His kindness he showed by catching Totodile so he could heal it was not the wisest decision.

"Charlie are we there yet?" Melody asked.

Charlie turned towards Melody. He loved the way her reddish-brown fell past her shoulders and blue eyes seemed to glow in the wind. Charlie knew ever since they were kids that she had a temper and she could be insensitive. But right then he saw her, straightening her hair with her nails, looking sadly into the moon, Charlie saw something within her that made her radiate beauty.

_I can't believe I never thought of her for all this time. _He thought. _Why just now am I pondering her as if she was as fine as gold? I'm glad I saved her when I did._

Melody to seem to notice him staring, gazing innocently upon him, Charlie noticing her tender red mouth that had blessed his head so many times, he immediately turned his gaze back to the road ahead to see that they were seconds from driving over a cliff.

Charlie punched the brakes as hard as he could!

The jeep skidded to a stop but they still kept inching more and more towards the cliff! Suddenly the front wheels disappeared over the edge but the back wheels were caught by tree roots that had been slowing them down!

Charlie could see the lights of buildings of Pewter City, hundreds of feet below him.

With the front wheels already disappeared over the cliff and the back wheels delicately held into place by the roots protruding out of the ground they were in a delicate balance.

"Oh…oh my gosh," Melody said.

"_How in the world did this happen?!" _Charmandertwo asked.

Charlie mentally punched himself for being distracted. If not for dumb luck they would be dead.

He, and he bet everyone else, could feel the delicate balance they had made. The combined weight of all of them in their current places was a factor in them not falling.

"_Oh man," _Larvitar said, his peaceful personality not able to comprehend such critical situations. _"What do we do?"_

"Okay let me think…" Charlie said. "Charmandertwo, if you or Larvitar get out you could pull us up. This will take delicate precision."

He took a moment to breath in, calm down.

"Larvitar," Charlie said. "You probably weigh more than Charmandertwo so it may balance us out. I want you to open your door and get out. Then use Superpower to haul us up, okay?"

"Larv!" he replied with a nod.

He stood on the seat cushion and walked towards the door. The jeep rocked a little bit as he did. He climbed over Charmandertwo and Melody and opened the door. But just as he stepped out of the vehicle the jeep's Charlie's Pokeball on his waist opened.

The white beam that shot revealed it to be Totodile. He stood on top of the steering wheel.

"Toto!" he cried smiling.

With the extra weight of Totodile caused the jeep lurched forward. Over the cliffside.

Charlie heard a huge scream he couldn't identify until he realized it was coming from his own mouth! He couldn't hear anything except his screaming!

Suddenly they stopped falling. It was an abrupt, sudden force that did this. Charlie looked out his window to see them covered with dark gray. He looked out the other to see a long chain made of…boulders?…that Larvitar was clinging to.

He then looked out the windshield to see a man with short, spiky black hair and tan skin riding an Onix. Its tail was wrapped around their jeep. The man was smiling at them as his Pokemon lowered them safely to the ground. He looked like he was in his late twenties to early thirties.

Charlie, Charmandertwo, Totodile, and Melody got out of the jeep to see it had been crushed by Onix's strength. But they didn't need it because it was low on fuel and Charlie didn't want to help pay for that. The Onix leans down to let the man and Larvitar off.

"Thank you," Charlie said. "I got distracted while I was driving."

"I'm glad to meet you and I'm glad I could help you," he said. "My name's Brock and I'm the Pewter City Gym leader."

Charmandertwo walked over to Larvitar and made sure he put on his best extremely-frustrated expression.

"_What a great asset to our team," _Charmandertwo said.

Larvitar did not reply. His gaze just fell to the earth, saddened.

"Charlie if you ever do something like that again-!" Melody said.

Suddenly Brock rushed over to her, got on his knees and grabbed her hands. Charmandertwo suddenly had a flash back of Shane trying to hold Amber's hands, shown to him in her Remember Place.

"You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen with my own eyes," Brock said.

"Say what now?" Charlie asked.

"_Courtship rituals," _Charmandertwo replied. _"Apparently those unique to the human species."_

Melody stood their very awkwardly.

"Please," Brock said. "My desire for your soul is as burning as a thousand white suns. If you are with me you shall be the wind beneath me, making us soar unto new heights never dreamed of by neither man nor Pokemon. I shall protect you day and night if you give me your beautiful heart. I beg to know your name."

Charlie, Charmandertwo and Larvitar stood there with perplexed expressions.

"_What is he doing?" _Larvitar asked.

_Time to show how smart I am. _Charmandertwo said.

"_Trying to woo a female due to a hormonal urge that exists within a male's body," _Charmandertwo said.

"_What does that mean?" _Larvitar asked.

"Trying to steal the only girl who's ever paid attention to me," Charlie said.

"_Sorry I asked," _Larvitar replied.

"My name is Melody," she replied.

"Melody!" Brock said. "How appropriate for someone who's mere face makes my heart sing a song of joy and love! Be mine forever and you shall never know a dark day again, my sweet! My newly beloved, you and shall forever from this day forth-"

Suddenly Onix grabbed Brock by the shirt color and lifted him into the air.

"My distance away from you shall not deter my passion for you!" Brock said.

"Well that was weird," Melody said.

"Let's get to the gym," Charlie said.

"Charmander!" he cried.

"_Not until we deal with bimbo over here!" _Charmandertwo said, pointing at Totodile. _"Us Pokemon would have probably been fine from the fall but his ignorance almost cost you and Melody your lives! I say you destroy his Pokeball and we relocate him far away so he won't cause anymore harm to others!"_

Larvitar nodded.

"Larvitar."

"_I would think the best thing to do would be to release back in the wild," _Larvitar said. _"When Totodile did that I see he doesn't _want _to cause harm others but seems to do it out of naivety. It would be the right thing. I'm not trying to be harsh or anything."_

"_And the smart thing," _Charmandertwo added.

Charlie gave Larvitar a skeptical look.

"Larvitar," Charlie said. "You know you were overjoyed to be apart of our family. If we let Totodile go then we break that bond that family is supposed to have. You didn't like it anymore when you're parents abandoned you when you didn't evolved so why leave Totodile alone when he made a mistake?"

Larvitar looked sheepish.

"Charmandertwo," Charlie said. "I want you to give Tododile the telepathic ability. Just like you did with Larvitar."

"_But Larvitar was a cool, friend-worthy Pokemon!" _Charmandertwo argued.

"_You really think so?" _Larvitar asked. _"I mean…of course."_

"_But Totodile nearly ripped Melody's leg off, killed Larvitar, you, and Melody within about an hour's time," _the Lizard Pokemon clone replied. _"I'm just trying to look out for your survival. Point and case."_

Charmandertwo was satisfied with his answer and thought Charlie couldn't outthink him there.

"_Well I'm the trainer around here so I deem what's friend worthy," _Charlie said. _"So I say you give Totodile telepathy."_

Charmandertwo frowned.

He knew there was no arguing with Charlie beyond this point. His human friend was a stubborn one.

He turned to Tododile, who's overjoyed smile had turned to one of guilt and pain.

He put his hand to Totodile's forehead and transferred the telepathy over to him. As he did, Charmandertwo could feel the Big Jaw Pokemon's guilt of realizing what he had almost done to him. After he gave him the telepathic power Totodile looked confused.

"_Wow!" _he said. _"I'm…I'm talking!"_

Larvitar nodded.

"_It's cool isn't it?" _the Rock-Skin Pokemon said. _"I'm sorry for attacking you with my Sandstorm like that."_

Charlie leaned down to Totodile.

"Sorry about Charmandertwo and Larvitar attacking you like that," Charlie said. "But we want you to know you're apart of our family now."

"Toto!" he said.

"_I was just nipping at you guys," _Totodile said. _"I didn't know I'd really hurt you. Then your weird striped Fire-type came up and punched me. I came out to apologize but I screwed it up. Would you forgive me?"_

"Larvitar!" he cried.

To Totodile's (and Charmandertwo's) surprise he ran and gave him a tight hug.

"_Friends are forever!" _

Charlie nodded.

"Of course we will!" he said.

"Now you make amends," Charlie said.

Charmandertwo felt his intelligence insulted. This Pokemon had nearly killed his new Pokemon friend and now his human friend. He didn't deserve forgiveness. He deserved disrespect.

He crossed his arms and turned his head away from the Water-type.

"Toto," he said sadly.

"_He said he was sorry!" _Larvitar said.

"Yeah, come on!" Charlie said. "You heard that they were accidents! He's no danger and he deserves our friendship!"

"_Oh contraire!" _Charmandertwo said, trying to sport his sophisticated speech. _"The fact that he nearly killed those around him _twice _makes him all the more dangerous. It's one thing when someone does it consciously knowing it will do harm but even greater a threat when one does it without trying. He is a threat you refuse to believe because, like your brother Shane and my friend Bulbasaurtwo, you are driven by unreasonable compassion and desire rather than wisdom." _

And with that Totodile started crying.

Charlie and Larvitar turned to him a glare.

"_And to think I thought you were a really great friend," _Larvitar said.

He then tried to cheer Totodile up by patting him on the back.

Charlie shook his head in shame. Melody walked over to the four of them and started patting Totodile on the back with Larvitar.

"_Some people just can't take the truth," _he said bitterly.

Then Brock ran over to them, released from Onix's grip.

"Well," he said. "Sorry about that. I know its nighttime and all but I can go one more round today. Tell you what, because I'm feeling great about beating this kid with a Pikachu who had no battle experience I'm going to offer you a choice in battle style."

"And what would that be?" Charlie asked.

"You can face me on an easier one-on-Pokemon battle," Brock said. "But if you beat me in a more challenging two-on-two where I can freely switch out and you have to choose your team before-hand then I tell you the closest city with a gym in it. That and another special surprise I'll keep a mystery."

Charmandertwo saw Charlie nod.

"I'll take the second one," Charlie said. "I'll need to know where the next gym is."

"Good," Brock said. "I'll give you thirty minutes to prepare but then you meet me at the Gym, which is just ahead of the Pokemon Center."

"I'll need to feed my Pokemon at the Center," Charlie said.

They shook hands and Brock climbed back on his Onix and rode it back to the Gym.

"That leaves you with a decision Charlie," Melody said. "Which of your Pokemon will you choose to fight Brock?"

"Well Charmandertwo and Larvitar have more experience battling Pokemon that Totodile, so I suppose I'll choose them," he replied.

_Good. _Charmandertwo thought to himself. _Keep that idiot Totodile out this fight-_

"_Wait!" _Charmandertwo said. _"I have a proposition for our silly little Water-type here."_

"_And what's that?" _Totodile asked bitterly, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"_If you help fight Brock's Pokemon then you will have earned my respect," _Charmandertwo said.

Everybody else glared at him as he said that.

"_That's it," _Charmandertwo said. _"Allow yourself to participate in the battle and I'll forgive you."_

Totodile stepped forward.

"_Fine then!" _he said. _"I'll do it! But only because I feel guilty about what I did and wish for you to forgive me!"_


	49. Charlie vs Brock

**Chapter 49: Charlie vs. Brock**

It was five minutes until they had to leave. Charlie could feel the anxiety surging within him. Sweat beaded from his forehead just by thinking about his first gym battle, especially with a rookie in his team.

He was tightening his shoelaces in the Pokemon Center while sitting on the couch. Charmandertwo, Larvitar, and Totodile had just eaten Pokemon food given to them by the nurse. Melody was right behind them.

"Charmander!"

"Totodile!"

"Larvitar!"

"They're all happy to have your back on this one," Melody said.

"I'm glad," Charlie said. "Now Totodile, mind showing me your moves?"

"_Right!" _he replied.

Totodile smacked his jaws together, implying he could use Bite. He sprayed a little water from his mouth, a Water Gun. Then he seemed to strain his body as if he was trying to put pressure on it. To anybody not paying close attention it looked like wasting energy but Charlie saw drops of water leak from Totodile's body.

"_Try and do it on the enemy this time," _Charmandertwo said. _"Okay?"_

He took Totodile and Charmandertwo's Pokeballs and returned each to their respective ball.

"I want you to cheer on Totodile," Charlie said. "Stay with Melody and just keep rooting for him."

"Larvitar!" he said and nodded.

They stepped out of the Pokemon center and headed to the gym. It was nighttime and not a creature stirred in the darkness. It seemed like it was deserted. When they stood in front of the Pewter City Gym, Charlie at first suspected nobody was there because he saw no lights on.

Charlie opened the door to the gym to see it was completely dark. Melody hung close to Charlie as they couldn't see anything.

Suddenly the lights above them flickered on!

It revealed before Charlie was a battlefield that was made of solid ground with boulders protruding from it. In the middle was a giant white Pokeball drawn on the ground. On the other end of the gym was Brock.

"Glad you could come!" Brock said. "I'm known here in Pewter City as the rock solid Pokemon trainer because I use Rock-type Pokemon. Have you chosen your two Pokemon you wish to battle with?"

"I have," Charlie replied.

Melody and Larvitar made their way to the seats on the side of the battlefield.

Charlie could feel his heart pumping as he grabbed a Pokeball from the side of his waist.

"I will start the battle when you feel ready," Brock said.

"I'm been ready for this for years," Charlie replied. "You may start now."

Brock enlarged a Pokeball in his hand and threw it into the arena.

"I choose you Onix!"

When the ball opened the beam of light materialized the Rock Snake Pokemon that Charlie witnessed save them. Like all the other Pokemon in Kanto he had memorized its data:

_Onix the Rock Snake Pokemon. The tunneling it does through the ground with its massive body causes it to absorbs earth and minerals become harder. It can tunnel through the earth fast and leaves a home to Diglett but can cause tremors. As it grows its body becomes more solid it becomes structurally similar black colored diamonds but far stronger. The naturally magnetic material in its brain acts as a compass so Onix will not lose its way. _

"Go! Charmandertwo!" Charlie cried.

"Charmander!" he cried.

Charmandertwo looked up at its opponent to see that it was the Onix from earlier.

"Char…" he said getting scared.

"_Come on Char!" _Larvitar said to him.

"Yeah you can do it!" Melody shouted.

It was fifteen times his size, not to mention a Rock-type, another one of his weaknesses. Its head was massive with jaws that were big enough to swallow a small vehicle. Its head was mounted with a flat rock. Its body was so long that as it stood up in an S shape Charmandertwo thought it may hit the ceiling.

"Your Charmander I can tell is strong," Brock said. "Stronger than any I have ever seen. That's why I had to send out my strongest Pokemon."

Charmandertwo started mind melding with Charlie. His brain started becoming synchronized to his trainer with each second. As soon as Onix attacked they were almost totally psychically bonded.

"Onix use Bind!" Brock cried.

"RAR!"

Faster than Charmandertwo expected Onix's tail whipped towards him.

Charmandertwo jumped, thankful for his impressive speed, over Onix's tail.

"Now use Tackle!" Brock ordered.

Onix's head suddenly became increasingly close to Charmandertwo. He side-stepped the attack as Onix's head bored into the rock solid ground beneath.

"_Now's your chance," _Charlie said. _"Use Ember while it can't see you!"_

"_Right!" _he replied.

Charmandertwo drew thermal energy from his tail flame. Once the intense heat had been channeled into his mouth he launched a flame the size of a beach ball!

"Char!"

The Ember attack hit Onix near the while he drew his head out of the earth.

"Nice hit!" Melody said.

"Hah," Onix said.

It didn't seem fazed from the attack at all. There was no burn mark or even a scratch from superheating.

"What?" Charlie cried. "That attack was strong enough to melt solid rock!"

"Maybe so," Brock said. "But an Onix's body is far stronger than diamond."

"I'm kind of know that from memorizing a book on that," Charlie retorted.

"In the hands of a trainer who knows what he's doing with his Pokemon he's just all the more stronger," Brock continued. "Not too mention that attack's power is suppressed due to Onix being a Rock-type."

"Oh no!" Melody said.

Charmandertwo stared at it with unbelief. Onix was totally impervious to the Ember. That hadn't even happened on Cranidos when he used Fire against it.

"Use Rock Throw attack!" Brock ordered.

"RAAAAAR!"

"RAR!" Onix bellowed.

With its roar dozens of stones started being flung from the ground and thrown. As they were flung and Charmandertwo he jumped the side to avoid one flying rock, sidestepped another, leaned to avoid another, but one hit his face, then his stomach, then his shoulder, then his leg.

"Char!"

He fell down to the ground, beaten down by the Rock attack.

"Come on get up!" Melody yelled.

"_You've got to stay strong for Mewtwo!" _Larvitar's voice said in his head.

Charmandertwo struggled to get up. When he stood back up he stared back at Onix, who was glaring down at him from thirty feet above him. Charmandertwo glared back.

_Mewtwo. _Charmandertwo thought. _I won't let you down. Time to give this one my all._

Charmandertwo focused all the heat in his body and channeled it to his mouth. Then he put a current to it for more force and shot a fire tornado from his mouth.

"CHAR!"

"Ah!" Onix cried as the tornado of fire hit below his head.

"CHAR!" he cried.

When he stopped using Fire Spin Charmandertwo saw that Onix's skin had been in fact blackened. But it was less like damage and more like a color change. Only the surface of a small portion of his body had been damaged. Other than that Onix was fine.

"I have to say!" Brock said. "That's the strongest Fire-type move I have ever seen! I've got to say that your Pokemon is very powerful! Impressive strength and equally impressive speed!"

Charmandertwo glared in frustration. That was his all and it had done just about nothing.

"_That Onix is very powerful compared to you," _Charlie said. _"I can't believe that something so strong could just be taken so easily. Even for a Rock and Ground-type Pokemon."_

"_Outrage is my only option now," _Charmandertwo replied.

"_As much as I distrust that move it is our last resort," _Charlie said. _"Use it on my command."_

"Onix now use Bind!" Brock ordered.

"RAH!" it roared as Onix's tail went up.

Charmandertwo prepared himself. He started remembering things that made him angry: Amber showing them her murder, Mewtwo being Giovanni's pawn, Squirtletwo calling him "rejected flame retardant".

"Use Outrage!" Charlie cried.

He unleashed his draconic anger.

"CHARMANDER!" he roared.

His flame became more intensely burning, the markings on his body going from grayish-red to glowing purple, smoke coming off his body, and his mind's sheer anger turning him into a monster.

Charmandertwo grabbed Onix's tail. He held the force of it back. He threw his tail into the and jumped at Onix. He felt claw connect to solid rock rush head on into a boulder.

"Ah!" Onix cried as he was thrown back.

Onix was forcefully pushed back into a wall from Charmandertwo's vicious assault.

"Onix use Dig!" Brock yelled.

Suddenly Onix's head drove straight towards the ground. It drove through the earth of the gym and underground where Charmandertwo could not see. He could sense Onix's energy but in his sight he disappeared. His mind was still full of anger and he was looking for it to be unleashed upon this Pokemon.

"RAR!"

Suddenly the ground beneath Charmandertwo rose and out came Onix! His body rushed Charmandertwo and sent him flying!

"Char!" he cried.

He was flung away like a rag doll and landed on his back. His body began to go numb from the damage. He couldn't move anything. Before he blacked out the last thing he heard was Brock's voice saying:

"Charmander is unable to battle!"

Charlie ran over put his hand over Charmandertwo. He picked him up, careful not to touch his tail flame.

"I'm sorry," Charlie said. "I failed."

Suddenly a battle was being flung at him. Charlie caught it to see it was a Potion. He looked over at Brock to see he had been the one who tossed it to him.

"Heal your Pokemon," Brock said. "A Potion will eventually heal him given time."

Charlie nodded and sprayed it across the Pokemon clone's body.

The clone of Charmander's eyes opened back up.

"_Did…did I lose?" _he asked.

Charlie nodded solemnly.

Melody rushed down and took Charmandertwo in her arms.

"I'll take care of him," Melody said and rushed back to her seat.

Brock gave Charlie a coy smile.

"One Pokemon left against my two that are nowhere near fainted," Brock said. "Ready for round two?"

Charlie picked a Pokeball from his waist and enlarged it.

_Come on Totodile. _Charlie said. _I know you can do this._

"Come back Onix!"

Brock returned the Rock Snake Pokemon to its Pokeball. Then he chose another Pokemon in a Pokeball.

"Geodude I choose you!" Brock said.

From the Pokeball came the Rock Pokemon.

"Geodude," he said.

"Go! Totodile!" Charlie cried.

"Totodile!" he said.

Totodile looked to his opponent to see that it was a Pokemon that's body was that of a round boulder with thick, muscular arms.

"_Hey it's a Geodude!" _he said in telepathy.

"Who said that?" Brock asked.

"I did of course," Charlie said.

Charlie looked at Totodile and mouthed: "No telepathy in front of other humans."

He nodded.

Then Totodile looked back to his opponent. He wasn't afraid of it one bit.

_Finally. _He thought. _Redemption._

"Come on Totodile you can do this!" Melody shouted.

"_We believe in you man!" _Larvitar said.

Charmandertwo just glared at him.

"_Just try not to get yourself killed," _he said.

"_I'll show you I am your friend Charmandertwo," _Totodile said.

"The battle resumes now!" Brock said.

"Totodile use Water Gun!" Charlie ordered.

"Totodile!" he cried.

He shot a blast of clear water from his mouth at Geodude.

"Yeah you get 'em!" Melody said.

"_Show them who's boss!" _Larvitar said.

"Geodude use Dig!" Brock said.

"Geodude!"

Geodude grabbed an armful of earth and made a hole in the floor. Then he plopped in and the Water Gun grazed right over him.

"Now come out and use Mega Punch!" Brock said.

"Dude!"

Geodude slowly levitated towards Totodile with his arm raised to punch him.

"_This is my chance!" _Totodile said to Geodude.

He bit Geodude's fist. The Mega Punch stopped.

"Dude?"

"Totodile!"

He bit down on the Rock-type Pokemon's arm.

"Dude!" he yelled in pain.

"Geodude get out of there!" Brock yelled.

Geodude used all his strength to pull his arm out of Totodile's jaws. He levitated back.

"Now use Rock Throw!" Brock cried.

"Geodude!"

He punched the ground as hard and the force chunks of rock at Totodile.

Totodile jumped to the side on top of a boulder.

"Don't let up!" Brock said.

"Geodude! Geodude! Geodude!"

He kept punching over and over into rocky battlefield, flinging rocks at Totodile. The rocks tore through the boulders that Totodile kept jumping on but none hit him.

"Way to go Totodile!" Melody said. "You're doing great! Keep it up!"

"_Rocks don't have anything on you man!" _Larvitar said.

Totodile looked to Charmandertwo to see his look of disapproval had not changed.

"_Charlie!" _Totodile said. _"What should I attack with?!"_

"Use Water Gun!" Charlie cried.

Totodile shot water from his body at Geodude. The Water Gun dissolved the Rock Throw upon contact and headed straight for his opponent.

"Geodude!" he yelled in pain.

Geodude was driven back as the Water Gun hit him face forward. Stone and sand was instantly washed away upon contact. Geodude landed in front of Brock with the water having washed away part of his body.

"Geodude is unable to battle," Brock said and brought Geodude back to its Pokeball.

"That was excellent!" Charlie said. "I'm so proud of you!"

Totodile felt better because of that. Truth was that he had been kicked out of his group of other Totodile because he really was naïve. After having enough of his stupid behavior they left him upstream near the mountain while they went farther downstream. He never saw them again.

"_Sounds tough," _Charmandertwo said.

Totodile turned to see that telepathic voice came from Charmandertwo.

"_Were you reading my mind?" _Totodile asked.

"_I have psychic abilities indeed," _Charmandertwo said. _"Sometimes I can't help but sense what is going on with another's mind."_

"_And he's been sharing it with me," _Larvitar said. _"I know what it's like to feel abandoned. My parents did the same thing to me."_

"_But Totodile was cast because of a real problem," _Charmandertwo said. _"Unlike yours which is something you could not help."_

Totodile nearly cried again at Charmandertwo's harshness.

"_You still have to fight and defeat Onix to gain my approval," _Charmandertwo said.

"_Onix?" _Totodile asked.

"I choose you Onix!" Brock said.

From the Pokeball he threw came the Rock-type Pokemon that saved them. It was tall, maybe twenty times Totodile's size, and intimidated Totodile as it glared down at him.

"Let the battle resume!" Brock said.

"Totodile use Water Gun!" Charlie said.

"Toto!" he cried and unleashed a blast of water from his mouth.

"From my experience with Slowbro I know that's a powerful Water-type attack!" Melody said.

"_I know right?!" _Larvitar said. _"Here that Totodile you're doing great!"_

"Onix use Dig!" Brock ordered.

"RAH!"

Its body bored underground and began tunneling.

"Totodile you've got to get on top of a boulder again!" Charlie said.

Totodile ran and jumped onto a rock protruding out of the battlefield.

"Wait for it," Charlie said.

Suddenly Totodile could feel the vibrations beneath him. Onix's head burst through the surface of the ground. Tododile jumped before he could hit him.

"_Nice going!" _Larvitar said. _"Charlie did that to prevent Totodile from getting hit by Onix!"_

"You're doing great Totodile!" Melody said.

"_Ahem," _Charmandertwo said. _"It was obvious it was good on Charlie's part. He did the thinking as Totodile just did what anyone would."_

Immediately Totodile felt bad again at his deriding. Once again he felt like he wasn't good enough for anyone's respect.

"Use Bind!" Brock ordered.

Onix's tail quickly raised to strike Totodile. Before Totodile could react the tail was in his face. He followed instinct and bit the tip of Onix's tail.

Totodile was having trouble holding Onix by this body part, even thought it was the strongest part of his physique.

"It looks like you're biting off more than you could chew," Brock retorted.

"Rah," Onix breathed trying to push against Totodile. "Rah."

"To-to," he said against Onix.

"Water Gun!" Charlie cried.

"Withdraw you tail and use Rock Throw!" Brock cried.

Onix hastily got its tail out of Totodile's mouth and craned its neck sideways to dodge the Water Gun. Then it slammed its tail into the ground and flung rocks at Totodile.

Totodile was hit in about every square inch of his body with the Rock Throw and thrown back.

"Toto!" he said in pain.

He hit the ground on his stomach.

"Totodile get up!" Charlie said.

Totodile struggled to get up.

"You can do it!" Melody said.

"_We all believe in you!" _Larvitar said.

Their cheering wasn't helping. Totodile couldn't recover after an attack like that. The Rock Throw was more than he could handle.

As Charmandertwo watched Totodile struggle on the battlefield he knew what he was doing. He was sensing his emotions and could feel him thinking about…friendship. His sixth sense was telling him that Totodile was concerned about the Gym battle for the sake of his friends. He thought of Larvitar, Charlie, and even him as family. But now at the brink of his strength Totodile didn't believe that he could do it.

Melody and Larvitar just kept cheering, telling him how great he was and that he could in fact do it. But Charmandertwo knew that he needed more motivation than that. He needed to know what more he was fighting for.

"_Totodile!" _Charmandertwo said.

He turned his head to where the clone sat on the sidelines.

"_I know what you want," _Charmandertwo said. _"You want to belong with us. You want to be someone with us. And I was preventing you from being that. But the truth is that you are now one of us. You are apart of our family."_

Totodile couldn't help but keep staring at Charmandertwo as he spoke.

"_The truth is that you're not only fighting for belonging to our group but another one of my family's members is missing," _Charmandertwo said.

And he told him of Mewtwo being taken by the Team Rocket leader Giovanni when Mewtwo thought his friends he had been alive with for over six years were dead. He told him of the anguish that Amber, Squirtletwo, Bulbasaurtwo, and himself felt and how they couldn't live to see that. He told him how they embarked upon a quest to obtain seven gym badges so they could enter the Viridian Gym and bring Mewtwo home with them. And Charmandertwo told him and Totodile seemed to understand.

"_You are apart of our family my man," _Charmandertwo said. _"You just got to know you are. Now let's beat this guy and go home."_

Totodile stood back up. The damage he had endured seemed irrelevant now. Mewtwo was in trouble. And they had to get him back.

Onix still stared back at Totodile, seeming to be surprised Totodile was not down.

"Did Totodile just recover from that hit?" Brock asked.

Totodile started exerting his body like he did in front of Charlie but giving it more than he ever had before. All he was concerned with now was beating Brock and helping his newfound family.

"TOTODILE!"

Water starting pouring from his skin and soon his body was overflowing with liquid. Totodile channeled all to one point in his body. His tail.

"Onix now use Rock Throw!"

"RAH!"

Its tail slammed into the ground and rocks were thrown at him.

"Totodile!" he cried.

He jumped, back flipped, and a crescent of water was thrown at Onix. It dissolved and tore through every stone Onix had picked up like it was nothing. Totodile landed back on the ground.

"Was that a new move?" Melody cried.

"_I think it was," _Larvitar said.

"_What do you know?" _Charmandertwo asked. _"He did it."_

"Onix use Dig!"

Onix bored through the ground to attack Totodile from beneath.

"On a rock!" Charlie said.

Totodile jumped back onto a boulder. He suddenly saw Onix's face break to the surface.

"RAR!"

Totodile jumped off the boulder right before Onix could hit him.

"Onix watch out!" Brock said.

"Totodile use Aqua Tail!" Charlie said.

"Toto!" he cried.

Totodile began exerting his body pour water from within and focused it to his tail. He jumped at Onix and whipped his body at him!

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" he cried in pain.

Onix was hit it in the body with the crescent of water. It washed away part of the boulders on his body.

Onix laid down, unable to stand back up at all.

"Onix no!" Brock yelled.

"Now Bite it Totodile!" Charlie cried.

Totodile chomped down on Onix by his tail and whirled him around and around in the air. Then he let go and flung him into the ceiling of the gym. It fell down and hit the floor, defeated.

"Yeah way to go!" Melody said.

All three of them rushed down to hug Totodile for what he had done.

"_You did awesome!" _Larvitar said.

"_I couldn't have done it better myself!" _Charmandertwo said.

"_Oh we all know that," _Totodile said.

They all laughed.

Brock stood facing the five of them, now Charmandertwo and Totodile fully recovered with some Potions, and Brock giving Charlie something.

"Well I really think that's been the best Pokemon battle I've ever had," Brock said. "Seeing Totodile make such an impressive comeback like that was truly worth seeing. I don't think I've ever witnessed something like that before."

Brock handed Charlie a circular rugged-edged medal.

"I confer upon you the Boulder Badge," Brock said. "You truly deserve it."

"Well thanks Brock," Charlie said.

"The Cerulean City Gym is just east of here," Brock said. "Though you'll probably have to take Mount Moon."

"Kay," Charlie said. "What was that other thing you were going to give me?"

Brock also handed Charlie a some coins he took.

"It was a little way of giving to charity I guess," Brock said. "When you battle a registered trainer you automatically get money but that'll by you a nice meal for you and your Pokemon for tonight."

"Wa-hoo!" Charlie cried. "Meal's on Brock!"

"My lovely Melody!" Brock cried.

He got onto his knees and clasped her hands in his.

"I know my love who's voice is like that we just met but I-!"

Suddenly a group of eight kids jumped out from behind the Gym and pulled Brock back.

"Come on Brock!" one said.

"Yeah!" another said. "Give the lady some air!"

"It's dinner time!" another said.

"Oh well," he said as he was dragged away. "I guess it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Will I ever find love?!"

"Okay then," Melody said.

"_Well I'm starved!" _Totodile said. _"What should we eat?"_

"_How about some organic soil with plenty of minerals," _Larvitar said. _"Nothing's better than that."_

"Or we could go have a romantic dinner date," Melody said. "Just the two of us."

She winked.

They walked away from the gym. At first their conversation started about where to eat but then Melody said something.

"Charlie I have to leave," Melody said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Duty calls," Melody said. "Goodbye Charlie."

Melody kissed Charlie on the mouth. For a second he felt like he was floating on air.

Suddenly a huge flash of light appeared in the sky. They all looked up to see there was more than one color of light. A blur of red suddenly came down, scooped up Melody, and flew off with her in the night sky, more light appearing behind it in the night sky. All in an instant and to fast for Charlie to comprehend.

"See you soon!" he heard he shout.

"What…?" Charlie asked. "She's coming back right?"

"_Don't know," _Charmandertwo asked. _"Humans are hard to understand."_

"_Am I the only one wondering what she flew off on?" _Larvitar asked.

"_She kissed you," _Totodile said.


	50. A Battle Adoption

**Chapter 50: A Battle Adoption**

Squirtletwo clung to Amber's hair as they walked. It had grown thick and long during their two day trek and Amber had gotten used to her doing this. It was early morning and they were walking down a trail that the psychic map Amber had received when she was sleeping on the boat. The very spot where it was leading them was not far away and neither was Pewter City.

"_Come on Amber," _Squirtletwo said. _"Are we there or not?"_

"Not yet," she replied.

Amber was now five steps away from the exact location.

Five…four…

Three…two…one.

Amber stood in front of the entrance to a great big cave in front of her. The cave itself was made hard packed earth while there was a hollowed out opening in it for an entrance.

"_Wait until later," _the voice that guided her here said.

Amber sighed.

"_What's wrong?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"It just told me to wait," Amber said.

"_Don't worry," _Squirtletwo replied. _"We need to get a Gym badge from Pewter City anyway. We have seven to go if we want to show Mewtwo we're alive."_

"Right," Amber replied.

Amber couldn't stop thinking about Mewtwo. Everyday she was either wondering what he was doing or how badly Giovanni was abusing him. How horrible it was to know he was in danger.

"You're right," Amber said. "Pewter City here we here we come."

Amber walked past the cave and out of the field the had been walking in for two days now. Suddenly Amber saw a sign in front of her that had an arrow pointing forward that read: Pewter City straight ahead.

She smiled.

"We made it Squirtletwo!" Amber said. "We really made it!"

"_Mewtwo you're coming home!" _Squirtletwo said.

Suddenly Amber could feel the presence of someone else nearby with her sixth sense.

"Do you feel that?" Amber asked.

"_I do," _Squirtletwo replied.

She jumped from Amber's hair to the ground, ready to fight. The energy got closer until the bushes in front of them seemed to rustle.

Amber focused and used her telekinesis to draw the creature out. It was revealed to be the Vulpix who tried to save her from that Aku. Vulpix looked innocent as she was lifted into the air by Amber's psychic power.

Amber gently placed her on the ground.

Squirtletwo suddenly stood in front of Amber's legs as if to protect her.

"_Amber watch out!" _Squirtletwo said. _"It's that creepy Vulpix from the Shadow Gate place thing! He followed us and now we have to make sure it never does that again. Permanently."_

"Squirtletwo this is the Vulpix who tried to save me," Amber said. "She's our friend!"

"_That's just what the little vixen wants you to think!" _Squirtletwo said.

Then she got in Vulpix's face and glared into her innocent eyes. She pointed at her accusingly.

"_I bet you're in league with that creepy Aku guy that nearly violated Amber! Am I right or am I right?!" _she said.

Vulpix looked very uncomfortable.

"_Answer the question!" _Squirtletwo said.

Amber picked Squirtletwo up.

"_Hey I'm trying to defend you!" _Squirtletwo said. _"Put me down!"_

"Sorry about that," Amber said. "Squirtletwo can be a little badly behaved."

She put Squirtletwo to the side.

"What are you doing so far from home?" Amber asked.

"Vul!" Vulpix said. "Vulpix!"

"I don't speak Pokemon," Amber said.

"_You're falling for a trap," _Squirtletwo said. _"Good thing I'll be there to save you when it finally happens."_

Amber petted Vulpix down her head and brushed the curls on her head.

"Vulpix!" she said frantically. "Vul!"

Amber put her hand over Vulpix's head and focused. She imbued the Pokemon with the power of telepathic speech. After she lifted her hand off of Vulpix it looked at her as if it were confused.

"_Wow what did you just…?" _she said in telepathy.

Vulpix looked down at herself.

"_Did I just talk?" _Vulpix said in a sweet voice. _"I did just talk!"_

"_Amber what did you do?" _Squirtletwo asked.

She smiled humbly.

"_Oh no you did not just give her the power to talk with her mind?!" _Squirtletwo said. _"That's us clone's shtick! And of all people you gave to the enemy Pokemon in league with a demonic pedophile."_

"Now what did need to say?" Amber asked.

"_Please help me!" _Vulpix said. _"There's this boy chasing me! He's very mean and he wants to-!"_

Suddenly Amber felt another presence. Seeing it was Vulpix the first time she recognized she felt the Pokemon's innocence. This presence she felt was full of arrogance.

"Gary! Gary! He's our man!" eight voices at once said. "If he can't do it any no one can!"

"_Here he comes!" _Vulpix said.

Amber saw the person comes towards him. Surrounding the boy were eight cheerleaders with pom-poms and uniforms. They all stood around a boy with spiky brown hair, blue shirt, and a necklace with a yellow and green insignia. The look he gave Amber, Squirtletwo, and Vulpix was one of pure pride.

"_Okay now I believe you," _Squirtletwo said.

Gary walked up to Vulpix. Vulpix hid behind Squirtletwo.

"Well, well, well," he said. "What do we have here? My Vulpix and a cute girl."

The boy called Gary walked up to Amber.

"What's a lady as beautiful as you doing in the middle of nowhere?" Gary asked.

Amber looked to see that this boy wasn't even hiding the fact that he was examining her body as his eyes went up and down. This boy held no shame in his lust once-so-ever. It wasn't like Shane staring at her. Gary was obviously a pervert. Amber nearly glared at him in anger.

"Hello gorgeous."

"Gary! Gary! He's so cool!" the cheerleaders chanted. "He won't think twice of showing you who rules!"

"_Want me to Water Gun him for looking at you this way?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"_No," _Amber said. _"You'll kill him."_

"_Why do you think I'd use it?" _Squirtletwo asked.

Amber focused her and telekinetically lifted Gary into the air and threw him into the bushes.

"Gary!" The cheerleaders screamed in panic.

Gary got back up.

"What?!" he asked. "What did that?!"

"Please don't look at me or any girl like that again," Amber said.

"You did that?!" he asked. "Anyway I came here to get my Vulpix!"

"_He doesn't own me!" _Vulpix said. _"I see how harshly he treats his Pokemon and he wants to catch me! Oh please stop him! Please!"_

"_Don't worry!" _Squirtletwo said. _"We'll show him!"_

"Yeah it's mine!" Gary said. "Vulpix aren't exactly common and I think it'll be a great add to my battling team! I think a Vulpix will be a reliable Fire-type!"

"_He'll abuse me like he does all his Pokemon!" _Vulpix cried. _"Please don't let him take me!"_

Amber considered it over. This boy obviously had no respect for anything. He definitely wasn't nice and carrying around eight cheerleaders to watch him battle? Obviously not very humble.

"Who are you?" Amber asked.

"I'm Gary Oak!" he said. "I'm on my way to being the best Pokemon trainer in the world! I seek out the strongest Pokemon possible to battle then I train them until nothing can beat them! I'm going to be champion of every region I enter because of it! That and get a hot girl to do whatever I say. Want to be that girl?"

Amber couldn't believe this. This boy had absolutely no respect for anyone and had more pride than the ocean was big. She couldn't believe she was speaking to someone so infuriating.

"I won't let you have Vulpix," Amber said. "If you're that disrespectful to everyone else you just can't be a loving trainer."

"What has love got to do with anything?" Gary asked.

"It means I won't give you Vulpix," Amber said.

Gary then reached to his belt and brought a Pokeball out.

"So you want to battle for that Fire-type?" Gary asked. "Your Pokemon versus all of mine."

"_Tell him you'd love__ to have the honor and pleasure to kick his butt," _Squirtletwo said.

"I accept your challenge," Amber said.

"_And you're going to rearrange his face, right?!" _

"Go Squirtletwo," Amber said.

She stepped in front of her and readied herself for battle.

"Squirrrrrtle," she said.

"Girl I already have a gym badge while I bet you're a rookie," Gary said. "Your Squirtle won't be able to beat me! Go Squirtle!"

Gary threw his Pokeball into the air. Out came the original template for Squirtletwo's creation. However, she recognized this Squirtle to be a male.

"Squirtle," it said.

_Your about to get beat stripy. _For Squirtle said.

"_In your dreams," _Squirtletwo replied.

"Squirtle use your Water Gun!" Gary ordered.

"Squirtle!"

From his mouth shot a narrow beam of water.

"Use Rapid Spin!" Amber said.

"Squirtle!" she cried.

She pulled all of her body into her shell and spun at Squirtle. She could feel the force of the Water Gun bounce off her shell as she spun at him. Squirtletwo then felt herself hit Squirtle in the stomach with her Rapid Spin. She got out of her shell to see Squirtle fly and hit a tree. He slumped to the ground.

"What?!" Gary yelled. "Beaten already?!"

The cheerleaders looked distressed.

Gary walked over and kicked Squirtle.

"You worthless piece of crap," Gary said. "You fought a gym leader but can't even stand up to a girl."

"Don't treat your Pokemon that way!" Amber said. "That's why Vulpix won't come with you!"

Gary returned Squirtle to his Pokeball.

"We're going to train harder than ever," Gary said.

Gary got another Pokeball from his belt.

"Go Doduo!" Gary yelled.

Out of the Pokeball came a bird with two heads, brown feathers and long beaks.

"Doduo!" it cried.

"Use Peck!" Gary yelled.

Doduo ran at Squirtletwo at full speed.

"Use Water Gun!" Amber ordered.

"Squirtle!"

A blast of water shot from her mouth and hit Doduo in the stomach. It was shot back faster than it ran at Squirtletwo. It fell to the ground unable to battle.

Gary returned it to the Pokeball looking more frustrated then ever. He threw another Pokeball into the air.

"Go Nidoran!"

From the Pokeball came a pink Nidoran, a male.

"Use Bubblebeam," Amber said.

Squirtletwo inhaled air, mixing it with water in her body, and blasted a barrage of bubbles at Nidoran.

"That'll be a piece of cake to counter!" Gary said. "Nidoran use Poison Sting!"

Nidoran lowered his head and fired from its small horn a bunch of barbs. The Bubblebeam's force knocked the Poison Sting away and exploded on contact against Nidoran.

Nidoran fell to the ground defeated.

After returning his Pokemon to its Pokeball Gary looked stunned.

Now the cheerleaders were sobbing.

"Impossible," Gary said. "How did that Squirtle beat all my other Pokemon so easily? I must have chose the wrong starter and caught the wrong Pokemon. Girls it's time to get scold my Pokemon and then train their brains out."

They followed Gary as he turned around and walked away.

"_You saved me!" _Vulpix cried. _"You really saved me!"_

"Vulpix," Amber said. "Do you mind coming along with me in my Pokemon journey?"

"Vul!" she cried.

"_Of course!" _she said.

Amber got a Pokeball out from around her belt and dropped it on Vulpix's head. The ball opened up, flashed a beam of light out of Vulpix, and brought it into the ball. After the Vulpix was caught Amber minimized the Pokeball and put it on her side.

Squirtletwo jumped back onto Amber's hair as she ran to Pewter City.

"_We're coming Mewtwo," _Amber said in telepathy. _"We're coming to bring you home." _


	51. Unexpected Reunion

**Chapter 51: Unexpected Reunion**

Amber stepped into the gym to find that it was very dark. However, she could definitely feel the presence inside the Pewter City Gym.

"Hello!" Amber yelled. "Is anybody here?"

Suddenly the lights turned on to reveal a tan skinned man with short hair staring at her.

Suddenly he ran towards her and put her hands in his.

"Hi I'm Brock the gym leader and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!" he said. "I'd like to take you and marry for I have never laid eyes on a woman so gorgeous! Please except my offer and make me the happiest man on the planet!"

The gym leader was a too close for Amber to feel comfortable.

"Um…you know that I'm like fourteen and you look about thirty," Amber said.

"I'm only seventeen!" he said. "Really! But it doesn't matter what age! I've never seen someone as breathtakingly beautiful as you! Please, accept my proposal to be with me forever my one true love!"

Squirtletwo jumped up and kicked Brock to the ground.

"_Hey I didn't kill him," _Squirtletwo said. _"I was obeying your orders."_

"_No you weren't!" _Amber said. _"You just did that because he wasn't about to defile me!"_

"_And consider that a bad thing _why…_?" _Squirtletwo said.

"_Just don't rush the gun to hurt people," _Amber said.

Amber helped Brock stand back up.

"You sound really nice," Amber said. "But I…love someone else."

_Oh Shane. _Amber thought. _Wherever you are please be okay._

"Well he must be the luckiest man in the entire world!" Brock said with tears in his eyes.

"_Ah, I knew you two would always fall in love one day," _Squirtletwo said to Amber. _"But he's really not that lucky. His parents were killed when he was a kid, he's obsessed with one of the weakest types, he makes rash decisions all the time that nearly get him killed, his heart's bigger than his brain, and he has Bulbasaurtwo as a starter which is the same way so I wouldn't be surprised if they were dead right now."_

"I came here for a battle with the gym leader," Amber said.

"If you give me your heart I'll give you all the gym badges to your desire!" Brock said. "At least kiss me for the Boulder Badge!"

"_If only winning a gym battle was usually that easy," _Squirtletwo said.

"No I'll battle you for it fair and square," Amber said.

"Alright then!" Brock said.

He ran over to the other side of the battlefield and took a Pokeball out from the side.

"Go Geodude!" Brock said.

From his Pokeball appeared a Geodude.

Amber got out her Pokedex to examine it:

"Geodude the Rock Pokemon. Geodude are often mistaken for boulders and walked on in mountain trails. Geodude sleep halfway buried in the ground. As Geodude grows its body becomes more round and less edged. Its strong arms are used to climb mountains. When Geodude gather they often engage in contests to see who is stronger."

Amber put her Pokedex in her pocket.

"This will be a two Pokemon battle!" Brock said. "Okay Geodude use Mega Punch!"

Geodude floated towards Squirtletwo with its fist raised.

"_Use a tiny Water Gun," _Amber said. _"The smallest Water Gun possible."_

"Squirtle!" she cried and spat a forceful drop of water.

"Geodude!" he cried and hit the ground.

The drop of water had bored a hole into his chest.

"Return Geodude!" Brock cried and returned Geodude to its Pokeball.

He brought another Pokeball out.

"Go Onix!" Brock cried.

From the next Pokeball came what Amber recognized to be the Rock Snake Pokemon.

Amber brought her Pokedex out again:

"Onix the Rock Snake Pokemon. Onix bores holes through the earth to find a meal of soil. The soil and minerals absorbed into its body makes its body stronger. As this Pokemon grows its body becomes similar to that of black diamonds. The magnet in its brain helps it navigate below the earth."

"Onix use Rock Throw!" Brock cried.

Onix slammed its tail into the ground and a hill of small stones was flung at Squirtletwo. The stones bounced of her glossy shell.

"Now use a small Bubblebeam," Amber said.

Squirtletwo immediately exhaled three bubbles at Onix with suppressed force. The bubbles exploded on Onix's body and it fell to the ground.

Brock returned Onix to its Pokeball.

"Will your Pokemon be alright?" Amber asked.

"I'll get them to the Pokemon Center and be back soon," Brock said. "Here's your Boulder Badge."

Brock threw at her a the Boulder Badge and she caught it. Amber smiled and put it in a case she had brought along for keeping badges in.

"Fastest battle I ever had," Brock said.

Amber walked out of the gym.

"_That was too easy," _Squirtletwo said. _"Mewtwo we are headed your way."_

"We're a seventh of the way there," Amber said. "And then we'll bring you back home Mewtwo."

Suddenly Amber heard the voice again.

"_Return in front of the cave," _the voice said.

Amber nodded.

"Squirtletwo we have to go!" Amber said.

"_Where?" _Squirtletwo said. _"Shouldn't we stop somewhere and eat? All I've had to munch on are sandwiches and berries the past two days."_

Amber grabbed Squirtletwo and ran to where the voice told her to go.

Amber shortly arrived in front of the earthen cave to see nothing there.

"Who's there?" Amber shouted.

Suddenly Amber saw a bright flash in the morning sky. She saw a red blur descend upon the ground in front of her with a flash of golden light. The red blur flew off into the sky, too fast for Amber's eyes to keep up with.

Before her Amber saw Slowbro and Melody, her friend she had not seen in seven years.

"Hi Amber," she said. "Remember me?"

"_Hey isn't that…?" _Squirtletwo said.

"Melody?" Amber asked. "What…why…how…?"

Amber ran and hugged her old friend!

"I can't believe its you!" Amber said.

"It's great to see you still remember me," Melody said.

"Of course I do!" Amber said. "I'd never forget you but…where did you come from?"

Melody looked at Amber. Besides the taller body and longer hair Amber could have promised that she looked the exact same when she last saw her as a seven-year-old.

"Amber I need to tell you that I know that your mind's the same but your body is a cloned one," Melody said.

Amber looked at her in shock.

"I know about all your clone friends," Melody said. "Now I see that you're going on a Pokemon journey and I need to help you."

"How do you know?" Amber asked.

"I was told by the one who sent me here," Melody said. "They're really nice and helpful. You see they told me about this and wanted me to help. I communicated to you by telepathy through my Slowbro's psychic abilities."

"Slowbro," it said.

"Isn't that the Slowpoke you had as a little girl?" Amber asked.

Melody nodded.

"Now look," Melody said. "I want you to know that Missingno is planning to catch you Amber."

Amber's mind turned to shock again.

"Yeah," Melody said. "He's still with Team Rocket and on command from Giovanni is going to try and catch you again. He's waiting for you outside Pewter City but if you to Diglett's Tunnel then you should reach another place with Kanto gyms in an even shorter time. Probably outside of Vermillion City."

Amber understood but wasn't going to go to Vermillion City. The Gym leader Matis Surge had been the one to kill her on orders from Giovanni.

"_Dirty rotten Ghost-type demonic freak," _Squirtletwo said.

"Slowbro do it," Melody ordered.

Slowbro held its arm up and suddenly Amber knew exactly where to go.

"Diglett's Tunnel is a maze so this mental map will tell you where to go," Melody said.

"Melody I wish so badly for you to stay," Amber said. "Please come with me."

She shook her head.

"I'd love to stay but I can't," she said. "Bye! Oh yeah, good luck with Shane."

Amber blushed and was so embarrassed her legs became weak and she thought that she would fall down.

"_They're doing great already," _Squirtletwo said. _"Trust me."_

"Melody," Amber said. "Who is the "they" who told you all this? What was that red thing you were riding on?"

"I can't tell you that Amber," Melody said. "The secret is to keep you safe. By Squirtletwo, make sure Amber stays safe."

"_Been doing that since day one," _she replied.

Suddenly the red blur with golden light appeared and sped into the air with Melody and Slowbro clinging to.

"Bye!" Melody said.

"_I think you have a nice choice in friends Amber," _Squirtletwo said.

Amber nodded and walked towards the cave.

"So Diglett dug this," Amber said.

"_Sure did," _Squirtletwo said.

And they entered the cave.


	52. Guardians of the Earth

**Chapter 52: Guardians of the Earth**

Amber followed the psychic map placed in her mind. It showed her every turn and tunnel to follow in the cave dug by the Diglett. Everywhere along the tunnel walls were new passages that formed a complex of branching caves that lead to other places. Every once in a while Amber could sense a life-force beneath the earth and feel a tiny shaking from what she knew to be a Diglett digging through the earth.

Sometimes the new passageways made them have to abruptly climb up or suddenly fall down. Right now they were just walking with ever-increasing darkness now starting to make the tunnels even more pitch black. But no matter how dark it became Amber knew just where she was going from what Melody's Slowbro had given her.

"_It's getting dark," _Squirtletwo said.

"_Sorry," _Amber replied in telepathy. _"As the tunnels go deeper there's less sunlight leaking through. But I know exactly where I'm going with this map in my mind."_

"_But what if something's waiting to jump out and get you like it was before?" _Squirtletwo asked. _"I need to see them to kick their butts."_

Amber considered that. Maybe something down here would attack them. The best advantage they would have would be to have some light.

Amber grabbed the Pokeball at her side and through it into the air.

From the Pokeball sprang the Pokemon Amber had saved from slaving to Gary. In the dim like Amber could see Vulpix whirling its head around to see there was hardly any light.

"Vulpix."

"_Where are we?" _Vulpix asked.

"We're in a cave," Amber said. "Please I need you to light a fire so we can shed some light in here."

Vulpix nodded.

Her tail began to be engulfed in a bright blue flame that illuminated some of the darkness.

Amber started walking again through the tunnel. They would be headed straight for a few a little while.

"_So where are we?" _Vulpix asked.

"_In a tunnel deep beneath the earth," _Amber said.

Vulpix looked terrified.

"_Beneath the earth?" _Vulpix asked. _"No wonder I feel so strange. I've never been beneath the surface of the land. Why are we here?"_

Amber picked Vulpix up in her arms. Vulpix was so cute with the curls on her body. She petted it gently.

"_We're traveling to go to another city so we can win Gym badges," _Amber replied.

"_Gym? Badges?" _Vulpix asked.

"_Stuff Pokemon trainers use to parade around with because they beat this certain guy sitting in a building called a gym," _Squirtletwo asked. _"They're called gym leaders. We're going to the next town to beat the next one." _

"_Why?" _Vulpix asked.

"_Well," _Amber started off saying. _"Some people and Pokemon do it for fun and to become Pokemon masters-"_

"_Like Amber's future husband and his cloned plant," _Squirtletwo said.

"But we do it in order to save our best friend," Amber finished.

Amber then switched back over to telepathy.

"_I don't like you to tell everybody that!" _Amber said.

"_Then stop rolling over on me when I'm trying to sleep saying 'Shane kiss me again!'," _Squirtletwo replied.

Amber's face began to grow hot and she knew that she was blushing. Amber had in fact had a dream where she was reliving their kiss on the boat but she didn't remember rolling over Squirtletwo. Amber was so embarrassed.

"Anyway here's the reason that _we're _gathering gym badges," Amber said.

She told Vulpix about being murdered at the hands of Lt. Surge and being cloned, then meeting the clones, then being freed by Shane and Charlie, then Mewtwo being taken then them going on a trainers journey to free him.

"_I see," _Vulpix said. _"That's awful!"_

Amber nodded. Her time with the Bulbasaurtwo, Charmandertwo, Squirtletwo, and Mewtwo had totally replaced her family as those closest to her heart. All she could think about was Mewtwo and what he must be going through.

The map in Amber's mind told her to turn right. Amber looked to see that there was another tunnel directly beside her. Amber slid through the loamy dirt in the dark cave with her Pokemon right behind her. She walked into the passageway with Squirtletwo and Vulpix right beside her. Amber suddenly stopped when she was five feet in front of a wall ten feet tall.

"_What is this?" _Squirtletwo asked. _"And what's it doing in our way?"_

Amber didn't reply. By the light of Vulpix's Will-o-Wisp could see it was a slab of obsidian with text of characters made of the gem ruby. She began noticing every character had a circle with a dot in the middle, like an eye.

"_I thought this place was forged by Diglett," _Vulpix said. _"Amber, what is something made by humans doing here?"_

She did not reply.

"_I say we bust it down to get it out of the way!" _Squirtletwo said.

Amber placed her hand onto the text made of red gem. As soon as she did new information flooded into her sixth sense. Suddenly she knew these characters were live Pokemon living on this wall for centuries but altered by some strange power. The Pokemon read:

YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO GO PAST HERE. NO ONE IS MEANT TOO GO. BEYOND HERE ARE THE GUARDIANS OF THE EARTH. THEY WILL NOT LET YOU REACH THE END OF YOUR DESTINATION. TURN BACK NOW.

Amber took her hand off of the wall and stumbled back.

"Squirtletwo read what it has to say," Amber said.

"_Do I look like Charmandertwo to you?" _Squirtletwo said. _"I can't read!"_

"No," Amber said. "Read it with your psychic."

She paused for a moment.

"_Whaaaaaaaa…?"_ she replied.

"Just do it, you'll see what I mean."

Squirtletwo stepped up to the wall and then put her hand onto the ruby lettering. Then she stepped back as Amber had.

"_What the heck?!" _Squirtletwo said. _"Why can't we go through?!"_

"_What is the problem?" _Vulpix asked.

"We can't pass through here," Amber said. "Something doesn't want us to."

"_And are you going to let that stop you?" _Squirtletwo asked subtly.

Amber paused for a moment, wishing she had the courage Shane had or the resourcefulness of Charlie. She never thought she could do this on her own. But her family member was in trouble and Amber was all Amber had. She couldn't afford herself to be weak, not if Mewtwo couldn't.

"No," Amber said. "Squirtletwo use Water Gun!"

"Squirtle!"

From her mouth shot a blast of water as narrow as a quarter was round at the wall.

Suddenly the letters on the wall began glowing and the entire obsidian slab became bathed in wondrous red light. The Water Gun wasn't going anywhere, it wasn't penetrating, it wasn't forcing through the stone, it was just stopping.

"Use Bubblebeam!" Amber cried.

The Water Gun stopped and Amber witnessed Squirtletwo inhale a gulp of air. She exhaled and a blast of shiny bubbles hit against the obstacle. This attack seemed to distort the glassy red light the staved off the Water Gun attack. But as hard a time the light was having struggling against the Bubblebeam the Water-type attack was still not forceful enough.

"_Give it your all!" _Amber said in telepathy.

The clone of Squirtle's markings began glowing a luminescent blue as more of her latent power was put into the attack. Suddenly the Bubblebeam tore through the red light! The bubbles exploded across the surface of the wall and the Pokemon letters flew off the wall!

"_They've broken through!" _one cried in telepathy.

"_Life as we know it is doomed!" _another cried.

"_The guardians will defeat them!" _another said.

"_Yes the guardians!" _

Then they all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Amber looked to see that the wall was now devoid of the ruby lettering and with deep craters from the Bubblebeam.

"Wow!" Amber said. "That must have been one powerful attack to do that with stone!"

"_Are you kidding me?" _Squirtletwo asked. _"If those whatever Pokemon had not been in the way then I could have blown that thing to pieces."_

"Nice," Amber replied.

"VUL!"

Suddenly a blast of fire came from Vulpix's direction. The blast of fire, of what Amber recognized as a Flamethrower, hit the black, glassy wall and knocked it flat to the ground. The flattened slab was glowing red from the heat.

Amber and Squirtletwo looked to Vulpix in shock.

"_Yeah, sorry," _Vulpix said. _"I just wanted to help."_

"_Sorry?!" _Squirtletwo asked. _"That was awesome! Just for that you are now officially cool!"_

"Let's move!" Amber said.

She broke out into a run, as fast as possible to avoid the hot wall, and into the tunnel. When she jumped off she focused on the map in her head. It told her to go straight then take a left on the first tunnel she saw headed that way. Amber broke out into a run.

Squirtletwo ran as fast as she could. She was ahead of Amber but behind Vulpix.

"_Girl you can run too," _Squirtletwo said.

"_Thanks," _Vulpix said. _"My mom was a Vulpix, like me. Got it from her."_

Amber stopped in front of a passageway to the left.

"This way!" she yelled.

"Sandslash!"

On the wall to the right side of Amber a Pokemon with a tan body, white underside, and brown spikes all across its back and silver claws jumped out of the earth and grabbed Amber!

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Amber was pulled into the tunnel the Pokemon had burrowed.

"_Amber!" _Vulpix yelled.

Squirtletwo ran and jumped as high as she could. She grabbed the opening and crawled in. Vulpix jumped right in after her. Squirtletwo could feel the Pokemon burrowing faster than they could crawl through. At this rate they would never catch up to it.

"_Grab my stomach!" _Squirtletwo yelled.

"_Why?" _Vulpix asked.

"_Just trust me!"_ Squirtletwo yelled.

Vulpix grabbed onto her stomach as she could with her paws.

Squirtletwo withdrew all her body parts into her shell and used Rapid Spin! As she spun towards the Pokemon the clone of Squirtle could feel her shell plow through the dirt around. However that did not slow her down one bit.

When the Pokemon could be sensed to be extremely close Squirtletwo could feel her shell connect with a bunch of spiny objects.

When Squirtletwo had jumped out of her shell she saw they tumbled out of the tunnel the Pokemon had dug with the abductor and Amber into a large cave. The cave was made of rock instead of dirt unlike the tunnels.

When Squirtletwo stood in there she looked back at Vulpix to see she was barfing.

"_Please, never do that again," _she pleaded.

Amber ran over to Squirtletwo, picked her up, and hugged her.

"I knew I could trust you to save me," Amber said.

"_Don't look now but your kidnapper's got a twin he'd like to introduce you to," _she replied.

Amber turned around to see the Pokemon had another Pokemon just like to stand beside.

"Sandslash!" they both cried.

Amber stood up and faced them.

"What do you Sandslash want?" Amber asked.

"Sandslash!" one said. "Sandslash! Sandslash!"

_We need you to leave! _Squirtletwo understood. _This are grounds where no one should enter! Especially a human!_

"Sandslash! Sandslash! Sandslash! Sandslash! Sandslash!"

_We and all who live at this section of this part of this tunnel are the guardians of the Earth! _Sandslash communicated. _We are here to keep the world safe! We will not allow you to continue down where you were going!_

"_And if we want to keep going!" _Squirtletwo replied fiercely.

"Sandslash," it said.

_We will have no choice but to finish you. _It communicated.

They both showed their claws that gleamed in the low light of the cave.

"Looks like it will be a double battle," Amber said. "Vulpix do you think you can fight them?"

"_I'll try," _Vulpix replied.

Squirtletwo walked towards a Sandslash. It took on a fighting pose.

"Sandslash."

_Do not think you will be able to defeat me. _It communicated. _I have served as a guardian for years. _

"_Then go for it."_

"Slash!" he cried.

He swiped at her with his long claws.

Squirtle pulled her head into her shell and the Slash missed her. When she came out he had slashed at her arm and she pulled her arm into her shell and it missed again. He kept Slashing over and over but she just pulled her limbs into her shell again.

"_Can't hit me?" _Squirtletwo asked.

She used Rapid Spin and crashed into his body.

When she sensed he had stopped Slashing she withdrew from her shell to see he was gasping for air.

"_Well I can hit you," _she said.

When he saw she had gotten out of her shell he turned to glare at her with murderous rage.

"_You mad bro?" _she asked.

"SANDSLASH!"

_I am infuriated! If you think I am mad I will show you wrath beyond comprehension! Now watch as I unleash upon you the Power of the Earth!_

He put his claws together and in between them began forming an orange light. He stabbed that orange light into the ground in front of him. Suddenly a crater started coming towards her and when it got right underneath Squirtletwo she was bathed in a brown light that lifted her into the air and pieces of earth came up and hit her body.

"Squirtle!" she cried in pain.

"Sandslash!"

_Oh yeah! _he communicated. _How does that feel?!_

She shot a Water Gun into the crater and the water pressure blew the ground into pieces.

"Sand…?"

_Wait how did you…?_

"_Not near as bad as this is going to feel," _Squirtletwo replied.

She sprayed him with a Water Gun. He was blasted through the rock layer of the cave wall.

Squirtletwo looked over to see that Vulpix had just gotten hit by a Slash attack by Sandslash. She was down on the ground with a bleeding gash along her side. Sandslash was standing above her.

"_Oh no you did not just do that," _Squirtletwo said.

Squirtletwo used Rapid Spin and hit Sandslash in the jaw. When she withdrew from her shell she saw the Pokemon staggering back in pain clasping her face. Then she gave Squirtletwo the evil eye.

"Sandslash! Sandslash!"

_Fool I will rip you into a thousand pieces for that!_

She Slashed at her chest. Squirtletwo caught her claw an inch away from her body.

"_Uh…yeah…no."_

She used a Bubblebeam.

"_Watch the pretty bubbles," _Squirtletwo said.

"Sandslash! Sandslash!"

_You will rue the day you mocked me Water-type…ooh they really are very pretty-AW! _

The bubbles exploded over the surface of her body. Sandslash fell down.

"_Wow," _Squirtletwo said. _"A perverted a jerk, a gym leader, and now two overgrown mice I beat in a day. I am on winning streak."_

Amber quickly got a Super Potion out of her bag and sprayed it over Vulpix's wound.

"Please be okay," Amber said. "Please be okay."

After putting away the Super Potion carried Vulpix in her arms and ran.

"_Which way?" _Squirtletwo asked.

"_Directly ahead," _Amber replied.

The ran to the front of the cave.

Squirtletwo inhaled air and exhaled a powerful Bubblebeam. The explosion of the built-up pressure within the bubbles made a hole in the wall revealing a tunnel dug by the Diglett.

They ran through it as fast as possible. The tunnels became a blur without the ability to see much as they sped through it. Squirtletwo suddenly sensed a great many presences coming at them from underground.

"_You may want to jump," _Squirtletwo said.

They both did and at that moment popping out of the ground was a Dugtrio. There looked to be about a dozen in all that surrounded them. They were all glaring at Squirtletwo and her trainer.

Amber got on her knees and started giving the pretty, make-you-feel guilty look at the Dugtrio.

"_You are all so cute," _Amber said. _"Won't you please just spare us-?"_

Suddenly from it flew a huge boulder twenty feet tall that was so close to hitting Amber the wind made her hair fly. The boulder crashed into the opposite tunnel wall. Amber scooted back.

"_I'm going to take that as a no," _Amber replied.

"_Good!" _Squirtletwo said. _"Now I can practice playing Whack-A-Diglett! If only I had a hammer."_

She pulled all of her limbs into her shell and Rapid Spun at the Pokemon. When Squirtletwo felt she had missed it she pulled herself back out of her shell to see it had pulled itself back underground. Suddenly the Ground-type behind her.

"Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! Diglett! Diglett!" they cried obnoxiously as their bodies spun 360 degrees.

They whipped up a whirlwind of sand that wrapped around Squirtletwo and solidified. She became trapped in a solid tomb of hardened sand. The Dugtrio seemed to be laughing.

"Squirtletwo!" Amber said. "No!"

"_Don't worry this is not near as painful as it is humiliating," _Squirtletwo replied.

"Vulpix!"

Vulpix jumped from Amber's arms and rushed at the Dugtrio with all her speed.

"Dugtrio!" they cried in pain.

It was thrown out of the ground by the Quick Attack (and to Squirtletwo's surprise its their bodies were one) into the air.

"Vulpix!"

She shot a Flamethrower from her mouth that engulfed the Pokemon. When Dugtrio fell down most of its body was blackened and it let out a defeated "Dugtrio".

"Vul!"

Vulpix's Flamethrower was used to break the Sand Tomb and free Squirtletwo.

"_Nice going you little vixen," _Squirtletwo said charmingly.

"Vul!" she replied with a smile.

They resumed running through the tunnel and this time even faster than before.

"_Next time someone you haven't seen gives you directions in an underground cave," _Squirtletwo said. _"Just take the bus."_

"I think I agree with you," Amber said. "But the good news is that we're almost near Saffron City."

"Cubone!"

Suddenly jumping out of the dirt walls of the tunnel were Pokemon with tan bodies, skulls on their head as helmets, and carried a bone like a club.

Squirtletwo, Amber, and Vulpix stopped dead in their tracks. There were at least a dozen of them. They blocked the entrance to continue further.

"_I guess we'll have to take them all on," _Squirtletwo said.

"We have to," Amber said. "Only way to Saffron."

Vulpix and Squirtletwo turned to each other and nodded.

Vulpix rushed into one with a Quick Attack. She knocked one Cubone back. Another Cubone tried to jump her from behind but Squirtletwo fired a Water Gun and he hit the ceiling.

After that eight of the Cubone ran at Squirtletwo and surrounded her.

"_Use Bubblebeam!" _Amber ordered.

"Squirtle!"

She fired a forceful ray of foam but the Cubone popped each one with their handheld bone. Then one rushed at her from the side and Bone Rushed her.

"Squirtle!" she cried in pain.

Then as she was knocked back another Cubone used Bone Rush and then a Cubone Headbutted her into the earthen wall. Squirtletwo had to push back against a Cubone's bone to prevent it from squashing against her neck.

It's vicious glare honestly scared her.

"Cubone! Cubone!"

_I took an Ekans down this way who was trying to get to my mother's remains! _it said. _You think I'm scared of you?!_

"_Poor kid you sound like you need a lot of counseling," _Squirtletwo replied and truly meant it.

Squirtletwo withdrew all her limbs into her shell and Rapid Spun into the Cubone. It was knocked back into a wall. It then got back up and they all advanced towards her. As they did Squirtletwo got scared as the lifted their bones to club her with.

"_I know you're scared," _Amber said as their minds started melding. _"But please just remember that you have to keep going to help Mewtwo."_

Amber telekinetically showed her a memory of Mewtwo. It was one where he was floating with them in the air and they were playing tag. Suddenly, as Mewtwo was chasing Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo had jumped out and kissed Mewtwo on the cheek. This made him blush and nearly faint. At night they were laughing about the whole thing. Good times.

And that same friend was in the clutches of a megalomaniac power broker who was abusing him to take over the world.

Suddenly a hidden power was opened up in Squirtletwo she never before encountered.

Her fists started emitting thick mist from heat suddenly being taken out of the air. Squirtletwo on instinct punched a Cubone's bone about to hit her in the head with her ice cold fist. The bone froze over with a thin layer of ice. Then she punched the Cubone.

"Cubone!" he cried.

She looked to see that where she had punched him on its chest had formed a thick layer of frost.

"_You learned Ice Punch!" _Amber said.

Squirtletwo ducked an oncoming Bone Rush and retaliated with Water Gun.

"Now use Rapid Spin and Bubblebeam!" Amber cried.

Squirtletwo withdrew into her shell and in mid-spin launched a Bubblebeam that formed a tornado of shining foam around her. The bubble whirlwind through the surrounding Cubone into every direction from the ceiling to the opposite wall.

Squirtletwo looked around to see that Vulpix had in fact dodged every Cubone's attack and countered with Quick Attack. She had finished up two with a Flamethrower and was fighting two now.

Squirtletwo ran over and Ice Punched each Cubone with a fist. They fell down where they stood. Vulpix breathed a sigh of relief.

"_Thank you," _she replied.

"Squirtle!" she replied with a nod.

"Let's go we're almost out of here!" Amber said.

They ran straight forward and just when Squirtletwo thought it would never be possible again to see it she saw light filter in from a hole above.

"_Oh thank goodness," _she said. _"Another second and I might not have made it."_

"_I know what you mean," _Vulpix said. _"Yeah sunshine!"_

They walked closer to see that you could only reach the hole by climbing a small stairwell made of earth. But when they entered the room that led to place where sunlight was leaking they all stopped dead in their tracks.

Before them lay a moat of clear blue water surrounded by an island.

On the small island was another obsidian tablet protruding from the ground.

"_What's that?" _Vulpix asked.

"_Whatever those Ground-type goons didn't want us to get our hands on," _Squirtletwo replied. _"Come to Mama!"_

Squirtletwo jumped into the water, feeling oh-so-refreshed, and swam towards the island.

"Wait!" Amber yelled. "Squirtletwo!"

She picked up Vulpix and treaded water to reach her Pokemon. Squirtletwo went to the center of the island to see in the middle was a small pedestal holding an oval rock that was forest green with yellow stripes. Around the rock was a necklace that at the end held a small dark stone.

"Look what this tablet says," Amber said.

Squirtletwo ran over to Amber's side where she was on her knees and reading the obsidian slab.

On it was text and an image with some sort of bird colored white and below it was the same bird but darker.

"This accursed stone holds the destruction of the world," Amber read. "When touched by the great monster of the ocean its dark powers unfold. Once used for evil we keep it here to ensure the sea will never again find the Oceanus Stone so guardians are placed to guard the power of the stone so it will never find its way to the gentle dweller of the sea. Leave here so beneath the earth so it may not fall into the wrong hands."

Amber paused for a moment.

"So that jewel or whatever was what they were trying to protect?" Amber asked.

"_I was nearly killed for a pebble?!" _Squirtletwo asked.

Amber kept reading:

"The unborn life-force of the egg keeps in balance its power and neutralizes the power of the Oceanus Stone. So long as the egg remains where it does it will be un-hatched and the power of the stone is nullified. Let this not fall into the wrong hands and be led back to the beast of the waters or the destruction of the world come."

Amber drew back.

"Poor egg," Amber said.

"_Too bad," _Squirtletwo said callously. _"If it means the world doesn't blow up then whatever."_

"We can't just leave the poor thing like that," Amber said.

"_I agree with Squirtletwo," _Vulpix said. _"This sounds pretty important. We should leave it be."_

Amber walked over and picked the Pokemon egg up.

"We'll take of that mean old Oceanus Stone," Amber said as she prepared a place in her backpack for it. "It's better then this guy never being born isn't?"

"_Well we can't get into anymore danger then we already are," _Squirtletwo replied. _"So I guess."_

"_I feel we are making a grave error in judgment," _Vulpix said.

"We'll be fine," Amber said and zipped up her backpack. "After all, life is wonderful, no matter what life it is."

They climbed out of the tunnel to see they were on the side of highway with power poles above them. It was late afternoon and the sun was casting a beautiful red shade to the entire sky. They walked by the highway to see a sign that read "Saffron City a mile ahead".

By the time they got to the city it was nearly nighttime. But just by overlooking Saffron City from the hill they stood on they saw that the city never slept. There were huge lights and skyscrapers that ran through most of it. It was a bit flashy for what Amber was used to but she was definitely ready for some new clothes and a hot bubble bath.

"Let's check into a hotel if we can," Amber said dreaming of it already.

"_As long as we can hail a cab," _Squirtletwo said. _"Walking for days just kills me."_


	53. Vigilante Redemption

**Chapter 53: Vigilante Redemption **

Shane ran through the grassy plain, with Bulbasaurtwo paced beside him, while Heracross flew on his gossamer wings inches above his head.

"My first gym battle ever is only in the next town!" Shane yelled. "I can't possibly wait another second for it! I've been waiting for it since I can remember!"

"_I know what you mean!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"My whole life I've been training for this! This is our first step towards ultimate championship!"_

As Shane's sandals left the soft grass and entered the concrete of the sidewalk he saw Pewter City. They contained modest, white homes with black roofs that settled on the grassy plain as their lawn. He and Bulbasaurtwo ran down the street, dodging women and children at a breakneck pace. Heracross just kept flying two inches above Shane's head.

"_How far until we see the gym?" _Heracross asked.

"I'm not sure!" Shane replied. "But it can't be that far ahead at the pace we're going!"

As Shane ran, dodging people, he saw that Pewter City was nestled in between a rocky cliff on to the west and north edges. Being boxed in like this meant it was only a matter of time before he found the gym here. The thought of how easy it would be to find it made him run faster.

The thoughts were going through his mind about what the gym battle would be like, when he stopped dead in his tracks. He stopped to turn and stare.

Bulbasaurtwo and Heracross had slow down as it were unprepared for the abrupt stop. Heracross folded his wings under his back and both walked back to him.

"_Why did you stop?" _Heracross asked.

"_Yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"We gotta get to the Pewter City Gym!"_

Then they turned to see what he was staring at.

A building labeled "Pewter Museum of Science" was surrounded by ordinary citizens who were held at bay group of eight people in black uniforms with a red R on their shirt. Except one with purple hair and beard was wearing a uniform with yellow stripes. All they did to hold the people back was their awfully intimidating glare. From inside you could her strange but obviously horrible screams.

Suddenly Shane wasn't with his beloved Grass-type Pokemon clone anymore or his newly befriended Bug and Fighting-type but he was holding a gun pointed at a three-year-old's head. And he was only eight.

"Don't hurt me!" the boy with black hair said.

"Don't hurt my baby I beg you!" his young mother with brown hair said.

Suddenly they were gone and all he saw was blood on his hands. He looked around to see he was in the middle of a battlefield with Pokemon of the Rockets fighting to the death with Pokemon of the police and scientists. The carnage of dead humans was enough to make him vomit.

Now Executive Miller, Miles, and Petrel, the three Executives who led the break-in here all looked down at him and smiled.

"We couldn't have broken in here so easily if it weren't for you and your little roof cutting technique," Miles said. "Thank you Shane."

"Thank you Shane," the other two replied.

Suddenly he was back beside his Bulbasaurtwo and Heracross. Heracross was looking at him with concern as Bulbasaurtwo was staring up at him as if he knew just what had happened. His green eyes stared into his red eyes.

"_That must have been awful," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"You don't know how much until you've been there," Shane replied.

"_Teleport?"_

Shane nodded.

He kneed to the ground and put his hand on Bulbasaurtwo's mint green bulb.

"Heracross take my hand," Shane said.

Heracross held out his arm and Shane wrapped his fingers around Heracross's claws.

"Teleport," Shane ordered.

The three of them disappeared from the street and reappeared behind the line behind the Rockets.

"Huh?" the one Shane was directly behind. "What was that…?"

The man with purple hair and unique uniform turned around to have a shocked expression. Shane just smiled.

"Hello Petrel."

Shane punched Petrel in the jaw to the shock of everyone. He stumbled down the steps to the entrance of the museum, blood coming from his lip. Petrel looked up to him, bleeding and a with a chipped tooth to scowl at him.

"You," he said. "So Miller and Miles really didn't kill you."

The townspeople were all speechless with gaping mouths. The Team Rocket Executive that had been at the break-in at the Cinnabar Institute pointed a finger at him.

"I don't know how you escaped the clutches of two prime members of Team Rocket but I know you won't stop us," Petrel said. "Get 'em."

The Rockets all took a Pokeball from their waist, enlarged it and through it into the air.

From the Pokeballs came out four Raticate, two Zubat, an Ekans and a Koffing.

"Heracross are you ready to fight?" Shane asked.

Heracross stood in front of a Zubat.

"Hera!" he cried.

"Go Raticate use Hyper Fang!" the Rockets yelled.

"Quick Attack!"

All four Raticate jumped on Bulbasaurtwo at once. Two of them dug their teeth into him but they didn't get anywhere near piecing his skin and the those using Quick Attack immediately stopped as soon they hit his body. Bulbasaurtwo rammed his side into him and two of the Raticate flew into the air. He grew his Vine Whip from his body slapped the other two Raticate even farther into the air.

"Zubat use Leech Life!"

The Zubat flew at Heracross with its fangs showing.

"Heracross use Horn Attack!"

He drew the wings from his exoskeleton and flew at Zubat. His horn struck the Pokemon directly in the face. It flew backwards and plopped to the ground.

"Ekans use Poison Sting!" another Rocket ordered.

To his side and Ekans shot small sharp barbs from its mouth.

"Fury Cutter!" Shane yelled.

Heracross swiped with his claws and broke each barb into a dozen pieces. Then as he kept swiping the blast of Poison Sting Heracross slowly stepped closer to Ekans until he was an inch away from it. He slashed into Ekans body with Fury Cutter and Ekans went down after having several gashes in its body.

"Wing Attack!"

Zubat flew forward at him.

"Dodge and then Horn Attack!" Shane cried.

"Heracross!" he cried.

Heracross craned its neck to the right to avoid Zubat's wing then swung around to strike it with its horn. Zubat hit the stone of the stairs.

"Great job Heracross!" Shane complimented.

"_Thank you," _Heracross replied.

"Behind you!" Shane said.

Without thinking, on pure instinct, Heracross swung around and hit the oncoming enemy behind him with his elbow.

"Koffing!" he cried in pain.

The blow Heracross had given him had made a deep crack in the Poison-type Pokemon's body and sent him crashing into the Pewter City Museum's roof. He made a crater where he landed.

Heracross looked at Shane sheepishly.

"_I'm sorry," _Heracross said. _"You should have given the command."_

"Are you kidding?" Shane asked. "That was a great Brick Break! How long have you known that move because it was awfully powerful?!"

"_Just now have I used it," _Heracross said.

"You have no reason to ever doubt yourself again," Shane said.

Heracross suddenly heard a very unfamiliar noise and saw human vehicles flashing red and blue lights coming towards them.

"The police!" Shane said. "Bulbasaurtwo I want you to wrap these losers up!"

"Bulbasaur!" he replied.

He used Vine Whip and grabbed four Rockets in one vine and wrapped each group onto a column of the museum. Shane got out of his bag some rope, gave it to Bulbasaurtwo, and using his Vine Whip quickly tied the criminals to a column.

"_Yeah we won!" _Heracross said.

"No not yet," Shane said. "They're inside and they're obtaining something they've been trying to get for ten years."

They ran inside to see that the Team Rocket was holding people at bay and had totally secured the area. Exhibits of fossils in their glass casings had been smashed and the sight of terrified people was everywhere. Shane ran towards the end of the room as fast as he could.

A researcher was lying on the ground, slumped up against the wall. This floor looked like it had been ransacked with glass casings broken and the fossils inside missing.

In front of him was a Team Rocket Executive with teal hair and a fancy black hat to match his uniform. He was smiling with a sickening grin. He was patting the disc in his pocket.

"Thank you for the information on regenerating fossilized Pokemon doctor," he said. "These Pokemon will make such a lovely addition to the black market. Did you know that not even 1 out of 100,000 people have a Pokemon that went extinct long ago. Yes indeed Team Rocket will have a _lovely _addition to its commerce. Pleasure doing business with you."

Suddenly a kid with wild blond hair with his hand on a Bulbasaur with weird markings and holding a Heracross by the arm appeared behind the Executive.

"Hello Proton," Shane said.

He took the disc out of the Executive's pocket. Just as he reacted Shane uppercut him and he stumbled back a little, holding his face in his pain. Shane slipped the disc into his own pocket.

While Proton stumbled back Shane helped the researcher up.

"Get out of here," Shane said. "It's about to get pretty ugly in here."

He nodded and ran down the hall.

Just as he did Proton looked back at him and glared.

"It's not possible," he said. "How could Miles and Miller have failed to get you?"

"_You're personally about to find out how," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

Proton smiled.

"No matter," he said, wiping the blood from his lip.

Shane heard the clatter of footsteps behind him. He looked back to see the Rockets from downstairs made it to the second floor.

"But I'm going to have fun delivering a traitor like you, a stolen super clone, _and _the fossil regeneration information to Giovanni personally," Proton said. "Boys you know what to do."

The four Team Rocket soldiers behind Shane through their Pokemon out. He and his Pokemon turned to see they had sent out a Drowzee, a Koffing, a Voltorb and a Beedrill.

"Drowzee use Psybeam!"

"Drowzee!" it cried.

His body began glowing with an aura of purple, he put his hands together to form a big ball of multicolored light and from it unleashed a straight beam of psychic energy.

"Vine Whip," Shane said.

"Saur."

From the right side of his flower bulb grew a slender green vine and as the Psybeam neared two feet of him he use the vine to deflect it away.

Bulbasaurtwo wrapped the vine around Drowzee and crashed through the floor into the first floor.

"Well that didn't last long," the owner of Drowzee said depressingly.

"Hit him into the hole," Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo grabbed the Rocket and through him into the hole in the floor.

Heracross was trading blows with the Beedrill. They flew in the air with their gossamer wings flapping intensely fast as Beedrill used Twineedle and Heracross used Fury Cutter. Heracross had finally broken through Beedrill's stabs with his drill-like stingers and slashed him repeatedly in the chest.

"Bee!" he buzzed in pain.

"Hera!"

Heracross gave him one last hard slash and Beedrill was thrown back with a very deep gash.

"Alright Heracross!" Shane said.

"_To tell you the truth this is one of my first real fight," _Heracross said.

"Voltorb!"

From the ground Voltorb shot a Thunderbolt at Heracross.

He dodged it right in time.

"Now go use Horn Attack!" Shane yelled.

"Heracross!"

He sailed down and landed a huge blow on Voltorb with the end of his horn. Voltorb flew away and crashed into the opposite wall. Heracross descended in front of Shane.

"Bulbasaur!"

"Koffing!" he cried in pain.

He was Vine Whipped between the eyes and flew like a thrown ball into the floor. The trainers of the Pokemon were all running downstairs in retreat. Now only Proton remained.

Bulbasaurtwo and Heracross stood beside Shane as he confronted Proton.

"Give up," Proton said. "You don't stand a chance against an Executive."

"I recall Miller saying something very similar," Shane replied.

Proton enlarged two Pokeballs hanging from his waist.

"I'm going to have the pleasure of bringing the three of you to Giovanni," Proton said. "He'll be so elated to have two clones. I hear his Mewtwo is doing quite well."

Bulbasaurtwo was seething with anger over hearing his best friend in the hands of Giovanni. He was ready to slap this guy across the head with his Vine Whip. That's why they came here in the first place.

"_How dare you abuse my friend like that," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"You were meant to serve us," Proton replied. "It's not abuse. It is practical purpose. Go Golbat and Weezing!"

Proton flung the Pokeballs into the air and from them came a blue bat with two wide wings with a purple underside. The other was obviously the evolved form of Koffing because it had two heads, one big one with a small one attached to its side with another purple ball conjoined behind them. The two Pokemon floated in the air with malicious eyes.

Bulbasaurtwo stood his ground firmly and gave them both a glare to make sure both of them knew he would not back down.

"Golbat go and use Wing Attack against Bulbasaurtwo!" Proton ordered. "Weezing use your Gyro Ball on him!"

Golbat descended upon Bulbasaurtwo with outstretched wings and Weezing's body spun around in circles before flying straight at him.

"Use Teleport!" Shane cried.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

He vanished before Golbat's left wing could hit him in the face. He reappeared in midair directly above spinning Weezing. As Bulbasaurtwo fell he held his head out and slammed into it into Weezing's largest head.

"Weezing!" it cried in pain as Bulbasaurtwo rammed into its largest head.

Weezing was slammed into the floor with Bulbasaurtwo on top of it.

"Golbat use Fly attack!" Proton yelled

He jumped off just to see Golbat flying towards him.

"Bat!" it cried.

"Vine Whip!" Shane said.

"Saur!"

He extended both vines from his bulb and formed an X-shape in front of Golbat. Golbat stopped in midair, flapping as hard as it could against the Vine Whip but it was a stalemate.

"Weezing."

Bulbasaurtwo could sense Weezing floating back up after being hit to the ground. He looked back to see as he floated back up Heracross had flown at him and struck him between the eyes with a Horn Attack. Weezing was flung back into the a glass casing with a fossil in it.

"Yeah Heracross!" Shane said. "You show him!"

"Golbat get out of there and attack with Air Slash now!" Proton ordered.

"Golbat!"

Golbat flew up higher, escaping the barrier Bulbasaurtwo had created with his Vine Whip, and ascended. It pulled its wings all the way back. then pulled forward with all its strength, and launched a blade of wind that was so long, from end to end it sliced into the walls of the museum. Bulbasaurtwo raised his Vine Whip and struck the Air Slash. The blade of air was torn apart.

"Now use Leech Seed!" Shane cried.

Bulbasaurtwo drew from the inside of his bulb a seed and pumped nutrients into it. Then he pushed it to the small opening at the top of his bulb and launched it at Golbat. The seed opened up on its body and out popped four palm leaves that immediately began draining Golbat's health.

"GOL!" it cried in pain.

"Bulbasaur!"

He slammed his vines into Golbat and brought it to the floor. Golbat appeared to try and get up but it was drained again by the Leech Seed and laid still on the ground.

"Weezing," it cried.

"Heracross! Heracross! Heracross! Heracross!" Heracross cried.

He kept using Fury Cutter on Weezing. At first Heracross felt like he had been slashing against an impenetrable barrier but the more he slashed into it, and Weezing just kept tumbling backwards, his attacks were beginning to leave slash marks.

"Keep it up Heracross!" Shane kept yelling, encouraging him and making him cut with more vigor.

"Weezing don't take that!" Proton yelled. "Use a Sludge!"

Heracross let Weezing have one more good slash over the eye before he opened his wings and flew upwards.

"Weezing! Weez!"

It shot from its mouth dozens of disgusting bullets of black gunk that Heracross flew as fast as he could to dodge. He saw as they hit the walls and ceiling that the Sludge immediately deteriorated the wood of the building. But Heracross had an opening as he flew right above Weezing.

"Now use Brick Break!" Shane cried.

"Heracross!" he soared down at Weezing with his arm raised above his head.

As Heracross was only inches away from Weezing's biggest head he hit Weezing with his forearm as hard as he could.

Crack!

Heracross could hear the small fracture of Weezing's thick hide and the Poison-type Pokemon hit the floor, bounced off the wall and rocketed through the ceiling. Heracross watched Weezing fly skyward.

Heracross flew over to see Bulbasaurtwo had knocked out Golbat. They followed Shane as he walked over to Proton. He looked scared as his pupils emanated terror and sweat poured from his forehead.

"_So what was that about abusing Mewtwo for practical purpose?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Shane watched with satisfaction as Proton, Petrel, and their Team Rocket soldiers were thrown into the back of the police vehicle with their hands and legs bound with rope.

"You could for nothing double-crossing, thieving-!" Petrel screamed before the police officer shut the door.

It drove away.

Officer Jenny came up to Shane who had Bulbasaurtwo and Heracross standing beside him.

"Stupendous work," Jenny said. "I am glad you appeared when you did. It takes not only real strength to stand up to the Rockets in mid-heist but real courage. I applaud you for that."

"Thank-you ma'am," Shane replied. "But I really can't say I did it as much as my Pokemon were the real heroes. We're a family and they did most of the work. Have all the fossils been recovered?"

"Every single one," Jenny replied.

Shane pulled out the disc of fossil regeneration information.

"Here," he said. "This is what they really wanted. It's the same information they tried to steal about seven years ago that belonged to the Cinnabar Island Research Institute. It contains all the information one would want about resurrected Pokemon from fossilized DNA. Guard it closely."

She took the disc from him and placed it in a bag around her waist.

"Will do," Jenny said. "Gosh, if you hadn't come I'm sure the Rockets would have been gone before we could have done something. And even if we had gotten there in time we would have barely stopped them from getting fossils if we would have stopped them at all. I didn't know about this DNA info. I wish there was some kind of reward I could give you but oh my with our tight budget I don't think there is anything I could give you."

Shane smiled gratefully.

"That's okay," he said. "I don't-"

"Oh wait there is something I could give you!" Jenny said.

Jenny took out of her pocket a ticket and placed it Shane's hand. It was a simple ticket with the drawing of a ship on it.

"I know how strong trainers like you like to battle with other trainers and I here the SS Anne has some," Jenny said. "It's just outside Vermillion City."

Shane looked at Bulbasaurtwo and they both smiled.

"Yeah thanks Jenny," Shane said.

Shane put it his bag, which now had more room because the rope was no longer in it. They waved goodbye and the three of them walked down the street. Shane walked down the street, surprised that it was already past noon. Shane took no time to rest and ran down the street at full speed.


	54. Challenge of The Boulder

**Chapter 54: Challenge Of The Boulder**

Shane's pace down the road did not stop as day turned to night. He marched down the street looking down the pavement, without turning to sight of any buildings toward the side. His eyes were glued forward as he led the three of them to the east edge of town. As he kept walking he saw that he was getting farther from Pewter City until he was on a dirt, rural road.

Shane abruptly stopped walking. His eyes looked up from the ground to the building in front of him that was labeled "Nibi Gym". Bulbasaur and Heracross looked up with him. It was a plain building made consisting of large stones that held up a boulder that was about fifty feet from side to side. It was mounted by a wooden frame and wood pillars that supported it. It was simple and bold in design that gave all of them the impression of bluntness.

They walked a bit further to see that there was a sign that was freshly painted over. On the newly dried paint read: Brock has left. Under new management.

_Is the gym leader gone? _Shane asked.

As he looked up at it, Shane could feel the power of the Pewter Gym coursing through him and gave him great anxiety. The simplicity of the feeling was overwhelming.

"_Sh-should we go in?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Not tonight," Shane said. "I want to some rest before I go and battle there."

"_I agree," _Heracross said. _"Let's not be rash about going somewhere so…um, powerful."_

"_So where do we sleep?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Shane looked around. He led his Pokemon around the building and to see nothing but sparse country side. Shane picked out a thick oak tree, ran towards it, and began to climb up.

"_Sleeping in a tree?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"Sure," Shane said. "I've done it before."

"_I'm in!" _he replied.

Bulbasaurtwo started scaling the branches with his vines. Shane was laying on a thick branch when Bulbasaurtwo sat down next to Shane.

"_Are you sure?" _Heracross said. _"I want to know its safe for being in at night."_

"Are you afraid of the dark Heracross?" Shane asked.

"_Well of course," _Heracross replied.

"Well you'll be fine," he replied. "Come on up."

"_Okay," _Heracross replied. _"But only if I am able to sleep in the same branch as you."_

"Okay," Shane replied.

Heracross flew up through the leafy layers of the oak. When he hovered above Shane and Bulbasaurtwo Heracross sat down on their limb. He scooted over to the trunk of the tree and hugged it with more strength that could have supported a skyscraper.

"_I've always been scared of the dark until you guys showed up," _Heracross replied.

Shane yawned and laid, bumping into Heracross with his head.

"_Goodnight guys," _Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo jumped onto Shane.

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

He landed on Shane's stomach and tucked his legs underneath him.

"_I can't wait to win tomorrow," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

And they immediately fell asleep.

Shane opened his eyes to see the morning sunlight shining in his eyes. Bulbasaurtwo was sound asleep on top of Shane. Shane put both hands of the Seed Pokemon clone and shook him. His eyelids opened to reveal his red irises.

"Saur," he yawned.

He stood up. As close as he was, Shane could feel the breath of Bulbasaurtwo's flower bulb. Bulbasaurtwo looked down at him and licked his face.

"Morning Bulbasaurtwo," Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo smiled while standing on his chest.

"_It's time," _he replied.

Shane got up knocked on Heracross's hard shell. He turned around, stirred awake.

"_Hey Shane," _Heracross said. _"Aw, its lovely morning. Are we headed to the gym now?"_

"You bet Heracross!" Shane replied.

Shane turned and prepared to jump down from the tree. Bulbasaurtwo got right beside him and they jumped off the branch together. They smiled enthusiastically at each other. Heracross jumped down behind Shane.

Shane spotted the gym and the three of ran towards it. Shane's heart was beating faster than his legs were running. All he could feel was the anxiety of this new challenge.

They stopped when they reached the wide wooden doors.

"Take a deep breath guys," Shane said to his Pokemon. "Because we're about to face our biggest challenge yet."

He could hear them breath in and out slowly. Shane stared at the door handles and gripped them.

"_Let's go Shane," _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"Mewtwo doesn't have long."_

Shane swung the doors wide open. The three of them cautiously stepped into the room which had no light except for that which came in through the open doors. Shane's heart raced even further as he heard the door close behind him. Now they couldn't see anything.

All was silent for a moment. They heard absolutely no sound in the gym.

"Is the gym leader here?" Shane asked.

"_I hope so," _Bulbasaurtwo complained.

"_Guys I'm scared of the dark," _Heracross whimpered.

Suddenly a light flashed at the end of the gym. They all turned to see standing on a stone platform was another person. He had tanned, aged skin with black hair, a red jacket with green stripes, and a stern expression.

"_Who's he?" _Heracross whined Shane.

"If you were looking for a the Pewter Gym Leader that would be me."

Shane and Bulbasaurtwo stepped closer to him. Shane stared at the gym leader and made him know what he wanted just by the intense gaze in his eyes. The gym leader's eyes burnt with iron willpower and strict sternness.

"I am Flint," he said smiling. "I have traveled throughout Kanto and beyond in my seeking of becoming the world's champion. All my Pokemon are those that have increased their strength to a level at which you only dream of. I admit it was smart of you to bring a Grass-type like Bulbasaur and a Fighting-type like Heracross to challenge my Rock-type Pokemon but it will not be enough."

Shane was surprised to hear that type advantage was in his favor. He hadn't considered it of much use, focused more on his Pokemon's strength than strategy but he smiled regardless.

"Of course," Shane replied. "I think before I act."

"_That's a lie," _Bulbasaurtwo replied.

"So who are you?" Flint asked. "Where do you come from?"

"I'm Shane from Vermillion City," he said.

"Well know amount of thinking could do you any good against me," Flint replied. "Now, our battle begins."

Suddenly the lights turned on and Shane could see again.

"_Oh thank goodness," _Heracross said.

They were standing in what looked like the side of a rocky mountain. Littering the floor were stones with a layer of soil on top of the floor. Even larger stones were held against the wall and rocks decorated the entire inside of the building. Before Shane laid a battle of which he was standing not far from.

Flint stepped down from his place on the stone platform and stood right behind the white mark on the battlefield.

"How many Pokemon do you own?" Flint asked.

"Two," Shane replied.

"I will use the two strongest Rock-type Pokemon I have to battle you with," he said. "You may make any substitutions you like as I may make none. I'll also send out the first Pokemon."

Flint reached to his waist, plucked a Pokeball from it, enlarged it, and through it into the air.

"Let's go Golem!" Flint cried.

From the white flash of light materialized a Pokemon that's body was a round mass of gray stones. Its tan legs held it up with its tan arms sticking out to the sides. Its smooth, elongated head protruded out of the middle front of its body with small fangs and red eyes.

Shane got his Pokedex from his backpack, held the glass eyepiece to Golem, and pressed a button:

"Golem the Megaton Pokemon. The final evolution of Geodude. Golem's body is so strong it can withstand dynamite blasts without a scratch of damage. Once a year it sheds this hide to grow a larger and stronger one. Where Golem live on mountains is often a hazard to cities below as this massive Pokemon's weight can be a problem when rolling down hills."

Shane put his Pokedex up.

"_Come on!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"Put me in!"_

"I don't think so," Shane said. "Heracross, I want you to battle Golem."

"Heracross?"

"Golem may be too much for you Bulbasaurtwo," Shane said. "Dynamite can't even scratch its body. However, Heracross's strength is probably more than dynamite will ever be."

Shane turned to Heracross.

"You can beat him," Shane said.

Heracross stepped towards the Megaton Pokemon, nervously. He had never felt more pressured to fight than right now.

"Golem," it said.

_I'm going to squash you like the bug you are. _It communicated.

"_That's not very nice," _Heracross replied.

"Go-ho-ho-lem!" it laughed.

"Let the battle begin!" Flint said. "You may make the first move."

"Okay Heracross!" Shane cried. "Use Brick Break!"

Heracross opened the back of its exoskeleton and flew on its wings at Golem with a raised arm.

"Heracross!"

"Golem use Rollout," Flint said.

"Golem."

Golem tucked in its limbs and its massive boulder of a body and hit Heracross in the head. Golem rolled over Heracross and then he was thrown backwards. His back hit the wall and he slumped to the floor.

"Heracross!" Shane yelled.

He and Bulbasaurtwo ran over to the injured Pokemon. Shane knelt down and touch him. His body's exoskeleton had been softened from the Rollout attack. Shane grabbed his Pokeball and returned Heracross to it.

"_Shouldn't we heal him?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

"In his Pokeball his life will be preserved no matter how low his health is," Shane said. "We'll get him to the Pokemon Center later."

"One down with one to go," Flint said.

Shane smiled. He looked down at Bulbasaurtwo and nodded. He and Shane started mind melding immediately. Their brains synchronized quickly into one.

He ran out to the battlefield as fast as possible. Bulbasaurtwo stood on his side of the battlefield and stared at Golem.

"Let the battle continue," Flint said. "Golem use Rollout!"

Golem curled his limbs around his body and then rolled at Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Dodge it!" _Shane said in telepathy.

Bulbasaurtwo ran to the side but Golem's Rollout was faster. Bulbasaurtwo was knocked back by the Rollout and was thrown out of the battlefield. He struggled to get back up, most of his body totally numb from pain.

"_Get up," _Shane said. _"I know you can still fight."_

Bulbasaurtwo stood up, all four of his legs in such agony that the nerves that had gone numb were now paining him.

_Just…ignore…the pain. _Bulbasaurtwo said to himself. _Hang in for…Mewtwo._

"_That's right," _Shane said. _"For Mewtwo."_

The thought of Mewtwo made him stand back up, despite the injuries. He could barely stand. Golem had stared to stare and laugh at him. Bulbasaurtwo glared at his opponent.

"Golem now use Rock Blast!" Flint ordered.

"Golem!"

Golem held out its open hand and from its palm emerged a pebble. That pebble slowly grew to be a perfectly round teen-foot tall (almost twice Golem's size) boulder that Golem held in its hand. It sneered at Bulbasaurtwo.

"Golem!"

_Goodbye!_

The boulder launched at Bulbasaurtwo as fast as a bullet.

"_Teleport in front of that Rock Blast!" _Shane said.

He suddenly vanished and reappeared five feet in front of where the boulder landed. The rock crashed with a great cloud of dust where Bulbasaurtwo had been standing. Bulbasaurtwo kept glaring down at his opponent.

He saw a bead of sweat come from Golem. He looked extremely perplexed.

"What?!" Flint asked. "How did you miss?! Am I seeing things?!"

Another pebble appeared from Golem's palm, grew into a smooth, round boulder, and was launched again.

Bulbasaurtwo had already focused on a spot five feet to the side and suddenly changed location. The boulder missed with another huge cloud of dust.

Golem fired another boulder again, this time quicker than the last. Bulbasaurtwo used Teleport to dodge that Rock Blast as well. Golem then started firing Rock Blast after Rock Blast in quicker succession.

"_You show 'em Bulbasaurtwo!" _Shane encouraged him.

Bulbasaurtwo Teleported away from every attack as dust was kicked up from the attacks that engulfed the battlefield.

"Golem! Golem!"

_Hold still so I can squash you! _It communicated.

The clone appeared right in front of Golem. Golem gaped in surprise. Both stood very still, not moving a muscle.

"Golem use Rollout!" Flint ordered.

Golem curled into a ball and rolled into Bulbasaurtwo again.

"_Use your Vine Whip!" _Shane said.

"Bulbasaur!"

He withdrew the bright green vines from his bulb and wrapped his vines around Golem. His rolling immediately stopped. Bulbasaurtwo felt great strain on his body but despite it hoisted Golem into the air. Bulbasaurtwo came down with a vine on Golem's stony body brought it to the ground.

CRASH!

The force of Golem's weight colliding with the ground shook the entire gym. Bulbasaurtwo saw Flint and Shane fall over from the force. Golem's body was half buried in the gym floor and where Bulbasaurtwo had whipped him was a huge cut that had pierced through his bedrock shell. He hoisted his vines back into the air and then withdrew them back into his body.

"Saur."

"Return!" Flint cried.

He withdrew Golem back into its Pokeball. He minimized the ball and then placed it by the adhesive button on his waist.

Bulbasaurtwo panted heavily, already tired from the battle with Golem.

"I don't know how your Bulbasaur disappeared like that and I certainly don't know how it just beat my Golem but I must say you have done an excellent job raising your Pokemon," Flint said. "Very excellent."

"Thanks," Shane said. "We make a good team."

"I send out against you my strongest Pokemon," Flint said and took another Pokeball from around his waist. "Go! Rhydon!"

From the Pokeball's flash of white light materialized a Rhydon. Bulbasaurtwo had seen them in Amber's Remember Place. The were fierce looking Pokemon that stood on hind legs with a long yellow horn and thick arms and legs. Its enormous tail beat the ground in anticipation.

Shane took his Pokedex out and took data on the Pokemon:

"Rhydon the Drill Pokemon. After its evolution from Rhyhorn it gained intelligence and learned to walk on its hind legs. While spinning the horn on its face like a drill it can shatter even diamonds. Its hide is so thick and tough it can actually withstand molten magma near active volcanoes where it is known to live."

Shane put his Pokedex up.

"Rhydon!" he roared at Bulbasaurtwo.

_You look weak. _Rhydon communicated. _Beating you will be no accomplishment at all._

"_Don't let his taunting get to you," _Shane said.

"_Oh yeah!" _Bulbasaurtwo said. _"We'll just have to wait and see!"_

Rhydon just chuckled.

"Alright you can have the first move Shane," Flint said.

"Okay," Shane said. _"Bulbasaurtwo, go and use Vine Whip!"_

"Bulbasaur!"

He grew the vines from the bulb on his back and whipped them at Rhydon.

"Rhydon use Hammer Arm!" Flint ordered.

"Rhy!" Rhydon cried.

He raised his arm and beat away a Vine Whip. His other arm did so as well. Just as he tried to beat back the other vine Bulbasaurtwo wrapped the Vine Whip around Rhydon's arms. Then he slung Rhydon to the right.

"Don!" he cried.

He crashed through a the large stones up against the walls as Bulbasaurtwo slung him through it with his vines. He let go of Rhydon after he had crashed into the wall. Rhydon slowly staggered up after that attack, bruises where the Vine Whip had gripped him.

"Rhyyyyyy," he said.

_So you are more than meets the eye. _Rhydon communicated.

"_Plenty more!" _Bulbasaurtwo replied. _"I am going to be the strongest Pokemon in the world!"_

"Rhydon use Rock Blast!" Flint ordered.

Rhydon put its claws together and suddenly a rock started forming from its clasped palms. The jagged boulder began to be as big around as twenty feet (almost three times Rhydon's size).

"_Bulbasaurtwo get your vines up to block this!" _Shane yelled.

"Bulbasaur!"

He got his vines up to stop the deflect the Rock Blast. That was a bad idea. Even though the vines prevented the boulders hitting his body but they still kept moving.

"SAAAAAUUUUU-!"

His back crashed through the gym wall and outside. The Rock Blast through Bulbasaurtwo away and he tumbled into the green grass outside of the gym. There was hardly any pain, only shock at the force of such power.

Bulbasaurtwo saw Shane running out to the grass screaming.

He ran over and held Bulbasaurtwo. He helped him stand back up. Bulbasaurtwo could feel Shane's worry for his health but at the same time the determination to push him harder.

"_I want to know if you can still go on," _Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo crawled out of his arms.

"_I can," _he replied.

Bulbasaurtwo could feel Shane's mind probing Bulbasaurtwo's power within him but couldn't seem to find anything.

"RHYDON!"

He came charging out and enlarged the hole in the Pewter Gym. Flint was right beside his Pokemon.

"Bulbasaur!" he said fiercely and stood his ground.

"Rhydon use Stone Edge!" Flint cried.

The Drill Pokemon waved its arm and suddenly rocks came out of the ground. The rocks were all very pointy and sharp and launched themselves at Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Block 'em," _Shane said.

Bulbasaurtwo hoisted his vines into the air readying to deflect the Stone Edge. Suddenly the ends of his vines started blossoming into pink flowers with yellow antennae in the bright sunlight. Due to the body of the vine suddenly became a brighter shade of green.

"_Cool," _Shane said. _"I think they've gotten stronger from the blossoms."_

"Saur!"

Bulbasaurtwo put all his power into this Vine Whip. His two vines flew in all directions and became green blurs with their speed. He deflected each edged rock that came flying at him. As soon as he deflected them they broke into smaller pieces. As

"_Nice going!" _Shane said.

"This isn't working!" Flint screamed. "Rhydon use Earthquake!"

Rhydon charged Bulbasaurtwo at a wild speed. Then ten feet away he stopped and shoved his arm into the ground. Immediately the earth started caving in.

Shane suddenly ran up to and grabbed Bulbasaurtwo.

"_Teleport now!" _Shane cried.

"Bulbasaur!"

Suddenly the two vanished and reappeared behind Rhydon. Bulbasaurtwo saw to his shock the trench Rhydon carved was fifty feet wide and no telling how deep as well as two miles. It had made a good chunk of the forests and mountains ahead of them get swallowed into the trench. Bulbasaurtwo was glad that it didn't hit the city or a chunk of the city would have been gone.

"_That attack was wicked," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane nodded slowly.

Rhydon and Flint turned around. Both of them looked very agitated that had not hit.

"How did you get over there?" Flint asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Shane replied.

"Rhydon go and use Rock Blast!" Flint yelled.

Rhydon clasped its hands together and started forming another boulder.

"_Teleport us to the top of the Pewter Gym!" _Shane said.

Shane put his hand on Bulbasaurtwo. He focused, more Teleportation than he had ever used, and they appeared on top of the gym.

"Rhydon!" he cried and shot a boulder from his arms.

The boulder bulleted through the gym, making another gaping whole in the Pewter Gym. Rhydon looked up in agitation that he did not hit his opponent.

"Climb up the gym and get them Rhydon!" Flint said.

Rhydon got on that and started scaling the walls.

"_Why did we come up here again?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked as he balanced himself on the Gym roof.

"_I need you to use instantaneous draining attack," _Shane said. _"And make it count because it'll take a lot of power to take down that thing."_

"Saur," he said.

Bulbasaurtwo focused. He focused on a seed within his flower bulb. He began pumping up with nutrients the seed, as much as he could. As he felt the seed grow large and full of energy he realized the moment had come to launch it.

"Rhydon!"

Rhydon had reached them and now stood on the Pewter Gym.

"Rhydon! Rhydon!"

_Fight me! _Rhydon asked. _Stop running and-!_

"Bulbasaur!" he cried.

More energy than he had ever put into an attack flew at Rhydon at that instant. The green oval shaped seed fired at Rhydon and dug shallowly into his chest. The seed opened up and sprung out of his hidden power was a six foot tall tree with a thin, light brown trunk. It grew limbs that extended out to form a small, thick canopy of sea green leaves. Bulbasaurtwo could feel every ounce of strength he was draining from Rhydon healings his injuries from Golem. He was back to full health and Rhydon fell over the edge of the roof.

The two of them smiled. Bulbasaurtwo Teleported Shane down below where they saw the tree uproot itself from Rhydon's body and sink into the ground beside him. Flint returned Rhydon to its Pokeball.

"You defeated my Rhydon," Flint said. "And with a no less than remarkable Giga Drain attack."

"Giga Drain?" Shane asked.

Flint nodded.

He gestured for them to follow and the two of them did. Shane and Bulbasaurtwo saw Flint take something from the stone behind him and hand Shane a round, gray medal.

"Here young trainer," Flint said. "Take it as proof of your victory over me. Take the Boulder Badge."

The very moment Shane had always dreamed of was brought to life right there. He cried. He took the Boulder Badge delicately and put the Boulder Badge in his bag.

"I have great expectations of you," Flint said. "Your Bulbasaurtwo is the single greatest Pokemon I have ever seen. No matter what talent for battle it has you brought it out. Congratulations."

"Thank you very much Flint," Shane replied.

"You are welcome," he said. "Goodbye."

"What your Gym's condition?" Shane asked. "I mean, we walked in through a hole in it."

"I'll have it fixed up in no time," Flint said. "It was made by Rock-type Pokemon, it can be fixed by it too."

Shane walked out of the Pewter Gym, taking his Boulder Badge out and fondled it.

"_We did this man," _Shane said.

"_Amber and Mewtwo are going to be so proud," _Bulbasaurtwo replied with tears in his eyes. _"They've always known how much I wanted this."_

Shane nodded.

They got to the Pokemon Center in a hurry. After five minutes after giving the nurse his Heracross in his Pokeball she gave it back outside of its Pokeball.

"_So did you win?" _Heracross asked nervously.

"_We sure did Bug Man," _Bulbasaurtwo said.

Shane held the Boulder Badge up to him.

"Hera!" he cried in joy.

"_So where are we headed to next?" _Bulbasaurtwo asked.

Shane got out his Pokedex and turned on the map. After looking at it for a little while he saw the next city with a gym.

"Cerulean City," Shane said.

"_Let's get going!" _Bulbasaurtwo said.

"_Yeah!" _Heracross replied.

And they walked out of the Pokemon Center and started running East towards Cerulean as fast as possible.


End file.
